


A bundle of memories

by emulikule



Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, M/M, Minho being a shipping cockblock, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-02-22 18:04:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2516891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emulikule/pseuds/emulikule
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes promises don't go the way you want them to, but that doesn't mean things can't change in the end.</p><p>Thomas and Newt were the closest of friends when they were young, but due to family circumstances Newt had to move away. Nine years later as a token to finishing school Minho offers everyone to travel together during the summer and Thomas is more than ready, only he gets an unexpected visit from an old friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I got talked into writing this little thing (again) and I gave in. A few things to note is that all the places in this fic will be made up because 1) I live in a small country that doesn't really have many interesting places to go 2) I didn't want to mess up any actual places by describing them wrongly, so keep that in mind. For appearances the characters will look like in the movies, maybe only added the fact that in the books Newt was taller. I apologize in advance for any OOC'ness.

The summer days were slowly coming to an end, but the heat still lingered and the two boys sitting on a swing set in an empty park were lazily staring in the distance while swaying their legs in unison. One of them stopped after a while and put his hands in his lap.  
  
“Do you think we’ll be friends forever?” The blond haired boy asked,his eyes glued to his interlocked fingers that were fidgeting a little.  
  
“What kind of question is that?” The other stopped kicking his feet back and forth to still the swing before turning his head and looking at his friend. “Of course we will.” He offered a bright grin.  
  
“Yeah… we will.” A soft smile came to his lips as well, but the boy’s eyes still looked sad.  
  
“If you don’t believe me, let’s make a promise!” The brown haired boy jumped from his swing and stood in front of the other, hands on his waist and grinning from ear to ear. “Let’s promise to always be friends, no matter what happens, and to never leave each other’s side.”  
  
His friend raised his head and looked him in the eyes. He could have sworn he had seen a glint of fear in them, but it was just a fleeting moment and in the blink of an eye it was gone. The fair haired boy nodded. “Okay, no matter what happens.”

* * *

 

  
From time to time Thomas would think about it, a pang of guilt locking his chest.  
  
 _Did we break that promise?_  
  
Rationally, he thinks, there was nothing they could have done. Newt’s family decided to move out of their little town right at the end of that hot summer and the pleas of the two children didn’t have much meaning. They could only hug each other and cry softly. At least that’s what Thomas did. Newt only looked at him sadly, tightly holding him in his arms. “We’ll meet again, I’m sure,” he whispered, so silently that Thomas wasn’t sure if he had imagined it.  
  
It all happened nine years ago. Nine years ago was the last time Thomas had seen the face of his best childhood friend. The memories seemed so distant now, sitting in a classroom full of teenagers that were eager to leave the room as quickly as possible, and thinking about a friend he couldn’t even remember that well now. The dark eyed boy let out a deep sigh before looking at the clock above the door.  
  
 _Just five more minutes._  
  
Five more minutes until the last bell that would signal the end of his school years.  
  
A crumpled piece of paper hit his head and Thomas turned to his right to see Minho grinning at him. “Dude, don’t space out like that. You looked like you were dreaming with your eyes open. What’cha thinking about? Maybe the girl sitting in front of you?” he cooed, making a kissy face.  
  
“As if.” Thomas tried throwing the paper back at his friend’s head, but the other boy easily caught it.  
  
"Well your love life is none of my business." He smirked as the shorter one groaned. "So I'm not gonna say anything. But I do need to talk to you, so meet me at the school entrance after the bell."  
  
"Talk about what?" Thomas raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Just freaking meet me there. I don't want to repeat myself to everyone." Minho swatted his hand to indicate that the conversation was over and turned back to look at the front of the class.  
  
 _Everyone?_  
  
Just then the final bell rang and the students jumped from their seats, gleeful chatter filling the room alongside the sounds of moving chairs. Thomas grabbed his bag and headed outof the class, stopping once to look back at it and all the people he may or may not see again. He felt a little empty, but quickly brushed off that feeling and stepped through the door. The boy knew he either had to be really happy or really sad finally leaving school, but those weren't his true feelings. He already had solid plans for his future, a university he will go to, a place to live in. No, he wasn’t scared of the future ahead of him, it was something else. It felt somewhat nostalgic, faraway.  
  
 _Another goodbye._ A quick thought passed him, but before he could dwell on it he saw Teresa leaning on the side rails of the stairs leading down the school entrance.   
  
"Hey, Tom." She waved with a smile. "Did Minho also tell you to meet him here?"  
  
"Actually, yeah.You too?" He sat on the rails next to her.  
  
"Yup, I wonder what's this all about."  
  
"No idea. Maybe a party for finishing school?"  
  
"Minho doesn't have enough friends to throw a party, Tom." Teresa looked him dead in the eye and they both burst out in laughter.  
  
"I must agree on that," Thomas said while looking around. "Though I do see a few of ours coming this way." He nodded towards a couple of people who seemed to have noticed them and were waving. "Maybe Brenda and Jorge were also invited to whatever the hell he's planning?"  
  
As he said that, the two mentioned walked up to them, grins adoring their faces. "Long time no see," Jorge greeted.  
  
"We’ve seen each other yesterday." Thomas replied before turning to Brenda and nodding.  
  
"Details, _hermano_. It's the thought that counts."  
  
"Then how thoughtful of you." The dark haired boy folded his arms with a slight smile.  
  
Minho jogged up to them in a few minutes, looking like he was about to tell everyone that he had discovered the meaning of life. "Guys, I have an offer that you can't refuse. It's freaking awesome."   
  
"What, you're going to move away and give us all of your stuff? If that's so, then I call dibs on your games." Teresa chirped in.

“Keep dreaming.” Minho snorted. “Actually I got permission to use my family’s car, which is, by the way, huge, for the whole summer and I thought we could all go on a road trip.” The Asian boy looked over everyone. “Come on, it’s going to be great! We could all go to some remote places, explore various caves, make campfires and sing drunkenly, maybe wrestle a bear or two.”

_A road trip?_ The idea did sound appealing to Thomas and it would be fun to spend time with his best friends without any parents telling them what to do, nagging whenever they got the chance. There was a possibility that this summer was the last time they all could spend together without a care in the world, and he didn’t want to pass on that. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

“If Tom’s going, then I’m too.” Teresa nudged him on the shoulder playfully and turned to Brenda. “You?”

“Sure, I think I can arrange this. Just gonna have to check in with my family.”

“I’ll also check, but I think I’m in too.” Jorge nodded. “But man, Minho, didn’t expect this kind of thing from you.”

“What can I say.” He puffed out his chest. “I’m just that great of a guy.”

* * *

 

After chatting a bit more, Thomas finally said his goodbyes and headed home. He felt light and kind of giddy just thinking about what kind of stuff they could all do and what places they could see. They could forget their worries and just act like kids for at least a few more months.

He entered his house, threw his backpack somewhere and sprawled out on the couch. The weather was already pretty warm and the atmosphere seemed lazy, the heat slowly lulling him to sleep. Thomas felt himself dozing off, finally accepting it and closing his heavy eyelids.

_“Forever is a really long time. I don’t really think it’s possible to be with someone for so long. You’d get sick of that person,” Newt hummed out, his eyes still glued to the TV, watching some kind of rom-com that was on._

_“You think so?” Thomas asked, turning his attention from the movie to his friend. “Maybe it would be fun to spend forever with someone you really like.”_

_“But that only happens in fairytales and these kinds of films.” Newt still tried to hold on to his opinion. The boy then suddenly turned to look at the other, his eyes marked with seriousness. “Would you want to do that with anyone?”_

_Thomas pondered for a few seconds, making a little pout before grinning back at him. “You,” a single word escaped his lips. “I wouldn’t mind having you by my side for that long.”_

_The blond boy looked at him dumbfounded, before bursting out in laughter. “Seriously, why did I even expect something different from you?” he said in between his breaths, finally calming down and a small smile creeping up on his face. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind that either…”_

A sharp ringing sound snapped Thomas out of his nap. The boy shot up from the couch too quickly, trying to get up, but his feet got tangled up and he face-planted the floor. Steadying himself back with a groan he got to his feet, the ringing noise still resounding through the house. It was the doorbell and someone was impatiently pressing it over and over again.

“I’m coming!” he shouted rubbing his face. “Just wait a sec.”

Thomas wobbled to the front door and swung it open, still massaging the bridge between his eyes. A fleeting memory of the dream flashed in his mind, the face of his smiling friend. “Sorry it took so lon—” He didn’t manage to finish his sentence because the person standing right in front of him looked like someone from a dream. The dark haired boy stood gaping like a fish, staring at the newcomer. “Newt..?” A soft whisper, almost inaudible.

“Hey, Tommy.” _The same old nickname._ “Long time no see.” The blond flashed him a smile, but Thomas was still trying to comprehend what he was seeing. This couldn’t be real, he must still be dreaming. That had to be it. Somehow his consciousness created the image of what his childhood friend would look like older and it was fairly generous, because Newt appeared to have grown into quite the looker.

“Tommy, are you alright?” The taller boy now seemed concerned. “Your face is kind of pale.”

Thomas quickly shook his head before blinking a few more times and finally deciding that this probably wasn’t a dream and he had made himself look like a complete idiot. “N-no, I… I mean I’m good. But is it really you?” he still managed to ask the most stupid question.

“In the flesh.” Newt grinned again, that smile really fitting his face. “Sorry for appearing out of nowhere, just wanted to surprise you.”

“Well you managed that.” The shorter boy gave a toothy smile of his own before engulfing Newt in a bone-crushing hug. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you,” he whispered, voice muffled by the clothing. It still didn’t feel real to him, not even being this close to the other.

“Same here.” Newt patted him on the back. “That’s why this was the first place I went to.”

Finally pulling back Thomas looked up questioningly. "First place? What are you even doing here?"  
  
"I came to see you, isn't that obvious?" Newt raised an eyebrow.  
  
"No, I meant like what are you doing here in general? I thought you had moved out for good." Thomas voiced the last words a lot quieter. It had been a constant thought when he was still young. They had promised to never part and right then it crumbled. Newt left and Thomas stayed. It felt really lonely at first since the blond boy was his only friend back then. Of course, he had known Minho and Teresa, but they were just acquaintances from school that he didn't spend too much time with. Newt had been there with him for as long as he remembered, spending their days together, sleeping over at each other's houses since they were neighbors, sneaking out of their rooms in the middle of the night to sit on the rooftops and watch the stars. All those little moments were left behind, just like Thomas.  
  
"Oh, that..." Newt trailed off. "Well, I actually just finished school a few days ago and was in the big city, so I decided to drop by."  
  
"What were you doing there?" the dark haired boy asked while moving away from the door to let the other come in. Newt stepped into the house, a warm expression spreading through his face as he looked around the room.  
  
"Still looks the same," he softly said as he flopped down on the couch that Thomas was just sleeping on, and turned back at him. "I was checking in with the landlord for the place where I'll be staying while studying."  
  
"Wait wait wait," Thomas blurted out quickly, a sudden warmness washing over him and his stomach started making loops. "You'll be staying in town next to here?"  
  
"Yeah, that's what I said. Honestly, Tommy, I don't remember you having this bad of hearing." Newt smirked. "Did you listen to too much loud music in your scene phase?"  
  
"How did you-? No, that's not the point." The shorter boy sensed his ears heating up, so he quickly changed the subject. "So you'll be living and studying at the city?" Newt nodded. "That's amazing!" He felt his whole face light up as the other stared at him with confusion. "I'm doing the exact same thing!" Thomas finally exclaimed, rushing the words out as quickly as possible.  
  
"Really?" Newt's expression also visibly brightened. "Then that means we could start hanging out again, catch up on everything and stuff. Hey, maybe you'd even want to do that this summer? I'm going to stay here for a while actually."   
  
Hanging out with Newt again? The thought seemed so appealing that Thomas even started planning out what they could do during the summer before realizing the deal he had made earlier that day. "And stuff..." He sat down on the rug, the flightiness slowly fading. "This is like the second best news I've heard today."  
  
"Shucks, just second?" The blond pretended to be hurt. "And here I thought I would be the beacon of light in your boring everyday life."  
  
"You're like a streetlamp in my dark unpaved road of life." Thomas said in his most serious tone.  
  
"So poetic. I'm at tears." Newt fake-wiped at his eyes. "But do tell me - what's the first amazing news?"  
  
"Well, I got offered to go on a road trip with a few friends from school, since one of them got to use his parent's minivan. He said we could travel the whole summer." Thomas felt guilty for some reason, like he was rejecting his friend's offer to spend the vacation together.  
  
"Oh..." Newt let out. "That's... That's really great, Tommy. It really does sound like a nice idea." He smiled, but it looked a little forced and Thomas noticed his shoulders slumping down a bit. "I hope you'll have a good time then. Maybe we could catch up later when you get back."  
  
His words sounded defeated and Thomas just sat silently on the ground. He had two options and both sounded amazing, but he felt like he'd be betraying the other if he chose one. There had to be a way to avoid that from happening and the gears in his head were spinning like crazy.  
  
"Wait, Newt." A thought suddenly occurred to him and he jumped up, startling the other boy a bit. "What if you come together with us? Then we could spend the summer together and visit all sorts of cool places!" he exclaimed, excitement filling his voice. Of course, this had to be the best solution. He could mash up his two options and get the best out of both of them.  
  
"You can't be serious," Newt quickly cut him off with a cold tone. "There's no way I'll just say yes to travelling with your group of friends that you've most likely known for years already."  
  
"Why not?" Thomas deflated, but still tried to reason. "The car will be big enough for one more person, I've seen it. And I'm sure Minho won't mind."  
  
"Minho?"  
  
"Yeah, him!" The dark haired boy then realized that Newt had also known the short-tempered kid from when he still lived here. "You're not complete strangers. Teresa will also come, so you'll already know three people there and Brenda and Jorge are great too. You'll befriend them in no time," he continued his pleading. "So come ooooon, just say yes." He just had to convince him, then everything else would go smoothly. Or at least that’s what he hoped for.  
  
"I dunno, Tommy... It still doesn't sound right to me." The blond fidgeted in his seat. "I barely remember them and I'm sure the feeling is mutual. I can't just waltz in with you and proclaim that I’ll be joining you all on your field trip. It just doesn't go like that."  
  
"Then we can make it go that way. I'll talk to everyone, convince them. It'll be more fun with more people and I'm sure no one will mind. Opportunities like that don't come too often, so you have to grab hold of them whenever you can." As Thomas said that, he moved closer to the other boy, squatting down in front of him and taking hold of his hands on instinct, a memory resurfacing from his past when he used to do that whenever Newt tried to back away from something.

The blond stared at their hands for a few moments before shifting his eyes to Thomas’, who tried to keep his gaze strong. A flicker of light went past those dark eyes and he bit his lower lip, his face losing its sternness and being replaced by doubt and, perhaps, hopefulness? Thomas couldn’t really tell, but he wished that he was right. Finally, Newt let out a deep sigh and relaxed his muscles. The next words that came out of his mouth made Thomas do a flip in his mind from the sudden rush of happiness.

“Okay, I’m in.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to thank my awesome friend, Myu, for drawing some great fanart for this fic. http://gloomyuu.tumblr.com/post/101029936042/ugh-im-just-yeah-kinnda-been-into-maze-runner  
> I guess you could call them kinda like snippets of a few momets from the upcoming chapters

Newt left after a few hours of catching up while playing various video games, though most of the time the two boys just kept yelling at each other for 'cramping their style', 'totally stealing that item from them' and 'there's no way you didn't do that on purpose'. At first Thomas was a little worried that things may be somewhat awkward between them, because even if they had been best friends a lot of time had still gone by, but surprisingly it felt the same as if playing with any of his current friends. Newt didn't act overly formal and joked around easily with him, though sometimes Thomas would get an itching feeling that the other was more closed off than when they were kids, so he made a mental note to try and get the blond to open up once they set on their trip. They exchanged phone numbers and Thomas promised to let Newt know all about the arrangements as soon as he found out himself. With that they waved each other off and the brunet was left leaning on his doorframe, an unconscious smile spreading on his face.   
  
 _He's really back..._  
  
Convincing Minho was an easy task. The boy remembered Newt from their younger days and even seemed excited to see him again, so he had no problems with adding one more person to their trip. Teresa showed interest in meeting him after so long and Brenda and Jorge didn’t object, seeing how everyone was acting over the news. Thomas felt really relieved that there weren’t any disagreements over Newt because even if he had acted like everyone would agree and he only needed to convince the boy to join them while talking to him, he had still feared a different reaction from his friends.

Miraculously, everyone’s families agreed on their spontaneous idea, only with the occasional worry if they’ll manage on their own and if anything at all happened they would need to call immediately. In the end, they agreed to set out in a few weeks when everyone had finished up with any lingering matters they needed to attend to and gathered everything they thought they would need for the trip.

Newt dropped by a few more times after that and Thomas explained everything to him, still feeling jumpy whenever he saw the blond, eliciting a comment from the other how he seemed like a hyperactive puppy. At that he tried to calm himself down, but an occasional smile would sneak up on his face from time to time.

Finally, the day came when Thomas was standing at his front porch with a few backpacks at his feet and a buzzing phone in his hand. Teresa kept texting him, asking if she should take one hunting knife or two and after five messages he decided to just ignore her because she didn’t listen to his opinion of no knives at all. Newt was supposed to come over and leave his car at his place and wait for Minho with him, so he was straining his eyes looking for him. After a few more minutes and a couple more texts from Teresa, Newt finally appeared. The boy took out a few bags himself and a guitar case from the car and waved to Thomas as the dark haired boy walked over to him.

“You play?” Thomas asked, staring at the case.

“Yeah, though not much.” Newt scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Just thought I would bring this thing if I felt like it.”

“Well I’m pretty interested, so you’ll have to show me.” The shorter boy nudged the other in the shoulder playfully.

“Alright, Tommy. I’ll serenade you the top ten hits of the century.” Newt winked at him.

“Just ten? And here I thought I was worth the top hundred.” Thomas returned without missing a beat, a bit surprised at himself for managing that.

“How demanding.” The blond cooed as he closed his car’s doors. “But I’ll try only because it’s you.” He gave a warm smile and Thomas felt his stomach lurching. It had been doing that for the past few weeks and the boy was beginning to worry if there wasn’t anything wrong with him, but otherwise he was feeling great, so he just brushed it off.

Minho arrived after a few more minutes and he greeted the two with a wide grin and a motion to get into his car. “Come, children. There’s plenty of candy in here and I promise that I won’t do anything too bad.”

“You already have the creepy minivan down and you do look like someone I wouldn’t trust, so you’re not too far away from getting a restraining order.” Jorge commented from somewhere inside the car with a few snickers followed him.

“Don’t listen to him,” Minho waved as if swatting a fly. “He’s just cranky that he wasn’t fast enough to call shotgun. Oh yeah, also because you two are the last ones I picked up you’ll have to sit in the back where there are no seats.”

“Oh come on, dude.” Thomas let out a whine. “I thought you were my friend.”

“And I am, but sometimes you’ve got to make some sacrifices.” The taller boy smacked him on the back a few times before ushering him and Newt in the car. “Just get yourselves cozy in there and it won’t seem so bad.”

Thomas only sighed and climbed in. The back was actually quite spacious, especially with the last two seats taken out. There were bags belonging to everyone and a few boxes containing canned food, but there was still plenty of space for him and Newt to sit down comfortably and still leave some. Teresa waved from the very front seat next to the driver’s where Minho was, but Thomas could only see her hand. Brenda and Jorge both turned around from the middle seats and flashed the newcomers toothy smiles.

“Are you ready?” Brenda asked while ruffling Thomas’ hair.

“Of course.” The boy patted down his messed-up hair before glancing at Newt, who seemed to be trying to adjust how he was sitting. Brenda also followed his gaze to the blond.

“If you’re uncomfortable you can use the pillows I brought. They should be somewhere near you.” The girl pointed at the pile of bags next to him. “There are also cards in my bag, so if you guys want to, you can play something, since you’ve got the space for it.”

Newt stared at her for a few seconds before snapping out of whatever it was, nodding to her and turning to rummage through the bags. Thomas watched the exchange with interest and didn’t even realize when a deck of cards hit him in the face.

“Hey, what was that for?” he said rubbing his nose.

“Sorry, next time I’ll yell ‘think fast’ before throwing anything at you.” The blond grinned at him.

“Remember that when you throw yourself at him!” came a shout from the front of the car and Thomas had to control his hand from throwing the cards at Minho, because he was driving and could kill them all if he did it.

“Really mature!” was his only response before he turned back at Newt and took the cards out of the packing. “So what do you want to play?”

* * *

 

After a few hours of mostly losses from his side at whatever game they tried playing Thomas finally realized one thing he didn’t know. Where were they even going?

“Soooo, Brenda,” he tried nudging the girl’s seat with his foot. “Do you know if we’re close to our first destination?”

“About half an hour to the lake, I think.” She responded without turning back. “Though I hope we’ll get there sooner, because I’m starting to suffocate in here.” As the girl said that, Minho made a turn leading into a forest path, the shade of trees quickly enveloping the car in a darker hue. “Seems like my prayers were answered.” She turned back to wink at him.

In about fifteen minutes the car finally stopped and everyone scrambled out of it, nearly falling over each other in the hurry to get some fresh air. Thomas started stretching a bit while looking over his surroundings – in front of him there was a little lake surrounded by a cliff and a few small waterfalls. Trees encircled the lake and a few pendulous ones were hanging at the edges of the cliff, seemingly ready to fall into the water at any moment, yet trying to hold on. It wasn’t so hot in the middle of the woods, especially near the lake, but it still felt like a warm summer day and the boy took a deep breath, the forest air filling his lungs.

“This place is great, Minho.” Thomas turned to his friend who also seemed to be stretching his legs. “How did you even find it?”

“My family sometimes comes here during better weather, so I thought why not.” He shrugged. “We could all use some cooling off.” The boy slowly turned at him with a grin before suddenly ripping off his own shirt and proceeding to take off his pants.

“Minho, you know you’re my bro and all, but please don’t go skinny dipping and put on some swim trunks where we can’t see you.” Thomas said as a shoe flopped down next to him.

“What, don’t want to see ‘this’?” Minho gestured all over himself.

“Frankly, no.”

The taller boy stepped closer to him and leaned to whisper in his ear. “Then maybe you’ve got someone else you’d want to thoroughly inspect?”

Thomas felt blood rush to his face, so he inched away from Minho turning around and heading towards the car. “Just don’t go naked and I’ll be as happy as I can be!” he shouted at his snickering friend.

As he was rummaging through his bag looking for his own swimsuit, Thomas felt a hand on his shoulder. A little startled he quickly turned to see that Newt was somehow next to him in the car and he hadn’t even noticed the boy.

“So what are we planning on doing?” the blond asked and Thomas hoped that the shadows in the car were enough to conceal his still lingering blush.

“We’re going to splash around in the water like little children.” He said as he finally managed to pull out what he was looking for.

“That actually doesn’t sound too bad.” Newt hummed out. “Okay, just wait a bit till I get changed.”

“Sure.” Thomas replied as he crawled out of the car, glancing back at the other to see him kneeling down to his own backpack. He turned back, noticing that Minho had already somehow managed to get in the water with his trunks on in that short span of time and that the other three were gone, most likely getting changed.

After a few minutes Thomas returned to the car where Newt was already waiting for him and even though he tried telling himself that it was perfectly normal to appreciate when another person looked good, he still couldn’t stop himself from staring at the other. The blond had a lean body, but he wasn’t too skinny and had enough muscle on him. A tiny voice at the back of Thomas’ head whispered to him that he didn’t even care how Minho or his other friends looked, but he tried to ignore that fact and forced himself to make a smile to avoid talking to Newt and most likely making a fool out of himself in that process. The only thing that bothered him was that when he caught the taller boy’s eyes, they seemed to be inspecting him as well, but Newt quickly averted them to his face and nodded.

“Let’s go?”

“Yeah.”

The water was perfect for the hot day and the coolness that washed over Thomas felt great. Jorge joined the three of them, but Teresa and Brenda, for some reason, stayed put near the lake, sitting and doing something with a few branches. The girls seemed really into it, so Thomas just brushed it off and turned back to the view of Newt trying to keep Minho's head under the water while Jorge was laughing his lungs out. Eventually Minho managed to wrestle out of the blonds’ hold and resurfaced with a big gulp of air.  
  
"So that's how you play, huh?" he looked at Newt with a mixed expression of annoyance and pride. "It only took one comment from me to get this reaction and let's just say that you took me by surprise, because there's no way you're getting to do that again."  
  
"Oh really?" Newt folded his arms with a smirk. "Wanna make a bet?"  
  
"You're on!"   
  
"Alright, then I take Tommy on my team."   
  
"Wait, team?" Thomas looked at him surprised. Did he just involuntary get himself mixed into a water fight?  
  
"Sure, then Jorge will be on mine." Minho swung an arm over the boy's shoulder. "And let the wettest ones win."  
  
"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" Thomas asked as he moved closer to Newt.  
  
"He's just saying that because he's already the most drenched from all of us."   
  
Thomas only managed to blink before someone slammed into him and dragged him underwater. He quickly looked down to see that it was Minho and with a little wiggle he slipped out of the other's hold. He got some air before diving again and this time he succeeded of grabbing Jorge's legs and pulling him down. With a little glimpse he saw Newt doing the same to Minho and they both exchanged grins and a thumbs up.   
  
The scuffle lasted for about fifteen minutes before everyone decided to call it a truce. At one point Thomas had somehow managed to get his legs tangled up with Newt's, sending them both tumbling down, and for some reason Jorge had turned on Minho, taking hold of him from behind and submerging them both underwater. In the end there was no clear winner and everyone was coughing up water, so for health issues Newt offered a tie.  
  
While Newt was hitting on Thomas' back to help him cough out the last remains of the clear liquid, Brenda and Teresa finally joined them in the water, though both of them were holding long makeshift spears.  
  
"What are you planning to do with that?" Thomas asked, feeling a bit concerned and he didn't even notice how he took a few steps back.  
  
"Hunting." Brenda answered simply.  
  
"Fishing, to be clearer." Teresa joined in. "Though we're going a little further, since you boys just scared off every living thing around here."  
  
"Do you have more of these?" Newt pointed at the spear.  
  
"Yeah, but we left them on the ground." Teresa waved off as she followed Brenda. "You can take them if you want, just don't kill each other."  
  
"We'll try." the blond shouted back before turning to Thomas. "I think I found a new way to beat Minho at something."  
  
"Fishing?" Thomas let out a laugh. "You can't be serious."  
  
"Oh, but I am." Newt winked at him. "Now let's go show that shuck face who's the best at catching some fishes."  
  
"You know what? Why the hell not. Of course we'll be better." Thomas felt a rush of excitement as he followed in tow after his friend who started heading towards the shore.  
  
In the end no one caught anything.  
  
Well no one from the guys at least. The girls managed to land a few catches and were looking extra proud of themselves as they carried their prizes. 

After a few more hours in the water Thomas finally decided to dry himself off and get back on land. He told the other boys what he was planning on doing and Newt decided to join him while Minho and Jorge stayed in the lake.

Once they had left the water both of them dropped down on the soft grass and spread out their limbs to let the sun dry them off. When Thomas didn’t feel as drenched anymore, he stood up and looked at Newt, who was peacefully lying with his eyes closed and breathing deeply. His still wet hair glistened in the sun and Thomas found it strangely mesmerizing. When his friend eventually opened his eyes, the brunet was finally snapped out of his trance.

“H-hey, so I’m gonna go get a better view of the place.”  He stammered a bit from the embarrassment of getting caught staring. “Do you want to come?”

“How are you going to get a better view?” Newt asked as he sat up.

“Climb a tree maybe?”

“Ahh, sorry, then I won’t join you.” The blond said apologetically. “I’m not too good with climbing.”

“Really? But I can help you.” Thomas felt a little dejected. Then a thought came back to him how they used to climb to the rooftops of their houses, but he didn’t say anything. Maybe Newt just didn’t like it anymore.

“Nope, Tommy. But you can go have fun, I’ll stay here and tan or something.”

“Alright… I’ll tell you if I see anything interesting.” The shorter boy said as he turned around and headed towards the trees. Maybe it’d be even better to go alone. He felt like he needed some time by himself.

He found a pretty tall tree that seemed suitable enough for climbing and started clambering up it. After a few minutes he reached a branch that was large enough for him to sit down and high enough to get a good view. Thomas carefully settled down on it and finally looked down. He saw Minho, Jorge and the girls playing with a ball in the water and Newt still sitting on the shore and looking at them. A pang of guilt went through the boy when he thought that perhaps his friend didn’t really want to be here with them and in the end he had just dragged him unwillingly, but then he remembered how he had acted around everyone and it really didn’t seem that he wasn’t enjoying himself at least a little bit. Maybe he also wanted some alone time like him?

Thomas watched the blond for a while longer until the boy stood up and headed towards the lake again. He averted his attention to those in the water and saw Teresa beckoning Newt to join them and his worries disappeared. He felt a small smile appearing on his face and then decided to go back to his friends and play with them too.

* * *

 

When the sun began to slowly set everyone finally decided that it was time to get dressed and make a campfire. Thomas felt a little exhausted, but the heat did wonders to his tired bones. As he was gleefully smiling in front of the warm fire another body flopped down next to his on the log that he and Jorge had dragged over to have something to sit on.  
  
"I didn't take you for an old man, Tommy." Newt said as he fiddled with his guitar case.  
  
"And I didn't think you'd actually have the guts to try playing in front of all of us." Thomas retorted, though in reality he was secretly hoping the other boy would.  
  
"Figured I'd show my worst at first and if everyone managed me like that, they'd be blessed at my best." Newt smiled at him, though a little nagging feeling told Thomas that the other wasn’t entirely joking.

The others soon joined them, bringing food and drinks from the car, but the main course were the fish that the girls had caught and prepared. After that came the drinks.

Thomas was beginning to feel quite relaxed and giddy, but he could still clearly understand everything that was happening around him. The same couldn’t be said about Minho, who was already talking in a louder tone than usual and making way more hand gestures than needed. Newt also seemed to get braver since he actually took out his guitar and started strumming on it.

The blond played a few more chords before stopping and making a serious face. “So I dunno if you’ve ever heard this and I’m really not too good at this thing, but anyway – here’s ‘Wonderwall’.”

Thomas couldn’t contain the burst of laughter and he heard Teresa snickering next to him too. Newt let out a puff with a smile and actually started to play. To Thomas it seemed pretty good and the background music really fit to the atmosphere of a warm summer evening while the campfire cracked from time to time and Minho tried to drunkenly sing along, mashing up most of the lyrics. After Newt was done they all applauded like parents at their children’s play and the boy mock-bowed.

“Dude, dude, play ‘Love me tender’.” The Asian boy suddenly averted his attention to the blond. “I feel like serenading all of you.”

“What? No.” Newt quickly splurted out. “There’s no way I’d know how to play a song like that.”

“Of course you do, now c’mon,” Minho stood up. “I’m waiting.”

“I told you – I don’t know that song.” The blonds’ face was beginning to redden.

Thomas scooted over closer to him and nudged his shoulder with his own. “He won’t let you say no. Just play something and maybe he won’t even notice it’s a different tune.”

Newt turned to him with a sheepish expression and after a few seconds of staring at each other he just nodded. The boy started playing a melody and Minho perked up even more.

“See? I knew you could play it.” He happily exclaimed before taking a big gulp of air and beginning to sing. “Love meeee tender, love me sweeeeeeeet, never let me goooo.” Teresa and Jorge, who were closest to him, both clapped their hands over their ears and the others winced. Thomas noticed that Newt was trying his best to ignore Minho and just continue playing.

When the last chords resounded and the singing died out Thomas flicked Newt in the arm. As the other boy turned to him to see why he did that he softly murmured. “You did know the song after all.”

The blonds’ face turned a bit red and he let out a weak laugh. “Yeah, I guess I remembered it.”

Thomas felt his head getting heavier, so he rested it on the other’s shoulder. “Well I think you play great.” He felt Newt stiffen a little, but the other boy quickly relaxed.

“Thanks, Tommy. You can be my number one fan if you want.” The blond replied gently.

“I think I might just become one.” The brunet murmured closing his eyes.

“Aww, little Tommy-wommy is getting tired?” Teresa poked him in the cheek. “That is just adorable, but it’s way too early for that.”

Thomas groaned and steadied himself back up. “I’m not, just trying to erase the memory of Minho singing.”

“What, you think I can’t sing?” the boy said annoyed. “Well there’s plenty of other things I can do.”

“Like what?” Jorge teased with a smirk.

“Like fight a bear.”

“You can’t fight a bear, Minho.”

“Just watch me.”

As he said that, the Asian boy stood up, wobbled a bit and started walking into the woods. Everyone just silently watched him as he disappeared between the trees.

“Did he seriously just do that?” Brenda finally broke the silence.

“I think he did.” Teresa answered.

“Are there even any bears around here?” Thomas raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t really know. Kind of hope that there aren’t.” The girl shuddered a little. “But I don’t think we should worry too much. He’ll come back after like ten minutes, saying he got hungry again.”

“You sure?” Newt asked still awestruck.

“Pretty sure.” She replied in a tone that clearly said this wasn’t the first time he had done something similar. “So now that he’s gone let’s continue with the songs. At least there won’t be anyone screeching like a dying cat in the background.”

Newt complied with the request and strummed out a few more tunes. Thomas found himself really enjoying the music and couldn’t even help humming along. He closed his eyes again and swayed from side to side like a little child with a dumb smile plastered on his face.

Though when Newt stopped playing he felt quite dizzy. He saw the other boy putting away the guitar and grabbing a drink for himself and an idea came to his head. When they were small it wouldn’t be unusual that one of them would fall asleep quicker than the other when they stayed over at each other’s places, sometimes even nodding off on each other. He grinned to himself when Newt sat back up normally with a drink in his hand and without any warning flopped his head down in his lap. The brunet was met with a slightly confused look from above, but it seemed like Newt quickly understood what was happening and just shook his head a little before returning to his conversation with Teresa, who stopped in her tracks to watch the two boys. She looked frozen, so Thomas lazily managed to put his right arm up and snap his fingers in her direction. “Sleeping beauty, it’s your time to wake up.”

“Huh?” She blinked her eyes a few times before seeming to focus again. “Oh yeah, right. Sorry, I didn’t know you two were together.”

“We’re not.” Both of them said at the same time.

“We just used to do this when we were younger.” Newt elaborated for her.

“Okayyy…” The girl stretched out before winking at them. “Sure you did.”

“Oh let them have their fun.” Brenda interposed. “So anyway, how long did you know each other?” she asked the two boys with genuine interest.

“Practically since we were toddlers, because we went to the same kindergarten and lived right next to each other.” Newt answered, since he noticed that Thomas couldn’t even be bothered to do that and was humming something with his eyes closed. “We spent most of our childhood together and basically lived at each other’s place. It was really… fun.” He said the last part a bit softer and slower.

“So what happened?” Jorge asked and Teresa shot him a small glare, but Newt only shook his head.

“I had to move, that’s all there is to it.” He replied slightly spaced out and Thomas felt gentle fingers starting to play with his hair, so he cracked one eye open, but Newt’s gaze wasn’t focused on anything and he looked like he was thinking about something.

“Well, at least you’re together again, right?” Teresa said warmly.

“Yup,” Thomas finally chirped in, startling Newt a little. “Thought I was sleeping, didn’t you?”

“You sure seemed that way.” The blond answered with a little smile. “Just like an oversized baby.”

Though Thomas had opened his eyes again, but he still didn’t want to get up, so the boy continued laying on his friend’s lap and enjoying the ghosting fingers atop his hair. Newt didn’t seem to care too much, so he wanted to savor the moment. Normally he wouldn’t have been this touchy-feely, therefore he blamed the alcohol for his newfound courage.

After about an hour of random conversations a rustle came from the bushes behind them and everyone turned their attention to see what had made the noise. Minho staggered a bit and then when he finally reached the campfire the boy ungracefully dropped down to sit on the ground.

“See? I told you he’d come back.” Teresa said. “So what did you do?”

The boy looked disheveled and his clothes were dirty in a few places. He looked up to her and grinned. “I fought a bear.”

“Of course you did.” Jorge sarcastically replied. “Perhaps even two?”

“I’m telling you, man, I did.” Minho suddenly stood up with quite some enthusiasm. “I found one sleeping in a cave and caught it in a headlock,” he motioned with his arms. “Then I punched it in the face a couple of times before giving a final kick and leaving.”

“I’m pretty sure you just slipped on a leaf, knocked yourself out and dreamt about the whole sequence.” Thomas said, not believing a single word that came from the other boy’s mouth.

“Think what you want, but the truth stays the same – I kicked some bear’s ass.” Minho proudly bumped on his chest. “And all of you just stayed here, cuddling and telling campfire stories.”

“I’m pretty content with that.” Newt smirked at him. “At least we’re warm and clean.”

“And boring as hell.” The other boy said as he grabbed yet another drink.

“Oh well, what can you do.” The blond shrugged. “I guess next time we’re going to have to get ourselves mauled by forest animals while you sit comfily somewhere safe.”

“You better.” Minho grinned at him before chugging a whole bottle of whatever he had managed to snatch.

“So what do you say, will you join me when I decide to prove my manliness to Minho?” Newt said as he looked down at Thomas.

“Sure, I’ll join you whenever you want to wherever you want.” He smiled back.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The truth behind Minho's story is that he really did find a bear. A baby cub to be more specific. But his heroic tale had a few changes in the specifics of him actually losing against the cub. At least he managed to head back to his supportive friends.


	3. Chapter 3

A few days passed seemingly in a haze. They mostly just kept driving in the scorching heat and Thomas was starting to feel like he was beginning to melt. Teresa had joined him and Newt in the back and they were trying to play charades, but when the boys failed to guess 'a killer clown' for fifteen minutes, she finally gave up. Everyone was acting a little snappy from the heat and Jorge had started threatening Minho if he didn't find a cool place for them to stop by.

To everyone's relief, he did manage to find something. Thomas guessed it was supposed to be somewhat of a small country town when he crawled out of the car and began praising the shadow underneath some trees. He thought he might have caught a glimpse of Brenda kissing the ground, but it could have been a mirage caused by the heat and his exhausted mind.

"Alright, who's up for some exploring?" Minho excitedly asked his friends, who were all hurdled under the trees to catch some shade.

"I wouldn't mind finding a shop where I could buy a gallon of icy drinks and maybe a few barrels of ice-cream. Perhaps some ice-packs too." Newt said as he took a few steps and put his hand above his eyes to get a better look around the town.

"Could you please stop saying 'ice' so many times?" Thomas let out a little whine. "It's having the opposite effect on me."

"Ice-cold." the other boy grinned and before Thomas could reach out to punch him in the arm, he took off into the town and the brunet followed in tow.

"We'll meet up at the car in two hours, so don't be late!" Teresa shouted at them.

"Okay!" Thomas tried to give her a thumbs-up, but at that moment he stumbled over a rock protruding from the ground and landed flat on his stomach. Groaning, he steadied himself on his arms and saw that Newt had come back to him and was crouching a little with his hands on his knees.

"Need some help?" the boy smiled cheekily and extended his hand. Thomas took it and got firmly dragged back to a standing position. A little surprised he staggered a few steps forward, not having expected the other to be this strong.

"So do you still want to find that shop?" he asked, trying to brush off what had just happened.

"I sure do."

The two boys walked around the small town; it seemed that technology had mostly avoided it and all of the houses and buildings looked pretty old. After finally finding a lone person hurrying down the street and managing to ask him where the nearest shop was, Thomas and Newt found themselves standing in front of a small building, with the words 'Chow down' hanging above the entrance.

"Was that their best choice for a name?" Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"It could be called 'Doors to hell' for all I care," Newt said as he pushed the door and a quiet 'cling' resounded through the room. "I just want a bloody cold drink and some ice-cream."

It was a lot cooler inside and Thomas was beginning to consider staying here for the rest of the day or even summer, but before he could gravitate towards the air-conditioner, Newt grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him to the freezers.

"Come on, you'll help me decide which flavour to get. I would say flavours, but I know that the minute we step outside the other ones would melt instantly, so I'll try to choose only a single packet."

"How smart of you." Thomas said, a little snarky.

"I know. What would you do without me?" Newt answered without missing a beat or turning around. The boy then leaned down to inspect the variety of ice-cream and beckoned the other to do the same. "So what do you think - 'Sex on the beach' or 'Creamy white delight'?"

"Do you mean which one sounds less suggestive?" the shorter boy looked at him questioningly. "Then I would say the second choice."

"Sure, Tommy, whatever floats your boat." Newt let out a small laugh. "Okay, I'll take the sex one and you can have the creamy white." He opened the freezer and took out the ice-cream. "You don't mind, right?"

"I don't know how to answer that question without either sounding too stupid or too sexual, so I'll just take what you give." Thomas grabbed the packet.

"And yet you still managed." The blond smirked at him and Thomas felt his ears heating up.

"Well you're one to talk with your choice of place." He tried retorting as they headed towards the drinks. "The beach? Really? You know how uncomfortable that would be, getting sand everywhere and no comfy place to lie down."

"Alright, I'll note down that you prefer a soft bed like a princess instead of being adventurous."

"A date wouldn't be too bad, but I'm just thinking practically. Also think about the crabs and all those other critters. Besides, there are more possibilities of getting caught in an open place like that.” Thomas hummed, now only taking everything as a joke, though he thought that Newt almost dropping the drink he was reaching for at that moment seemed a little out of character.

"Well you're no fun." the taller boy stuck out his tongue like a little kid as he put down their things on the counter to pay for them. "But I'll remember that you're a romantic. Do you have a dating site profile? I can just imagine 'The name's Thomas, I'm nineteen years old, just finished school. I love sunsets and long walks on the beach, but no sex there, cuz that's just uncivilized'. So, did I nail it?"

"You got me." Thomas put up his arms feigning defeat. "But you cited it so perfectly I'm beginning to suspect you've seen it and studied it well."

"Busted. Now my years of stalking have gone to waste." Newt said dejectedly as he opened the doors back outside.

"But you're next to your target of admiration now, that must count for something." the shorter boy gave a wide smile while unwrapping his ice-cream.

"You're right!" Newt exclaimed happily, swung his left arm over the other's shoulders and pressed the cold bottle he was holding to his cheek. "I think this calls for a date." he wiggled his eyebrows.

Thomas felt his stomach leap momentarily before mentally slapping himself. _That’s just a joke._ ”Yeah, a picnic consisting of only cold beverages and foods and two guys sitting underneath a tree in a park. Sounds like a dream date.” _Well, actually it doesn’t sound too bad._

“Oh don’t be grumpy, we’ll go on a beach date when we get there.” Newt flopped down on the grass underneath a willow tree, which had more shade beneath it than the other ones at the small park.

The atmosphere here seemed lazy, but Thomas didn’t mind relaxing for a bit while trying to eat his already dripping ice-cream. He glanced at Newt to see that the other boy was also struggling with his melting one, though it seemed that he was having more trouble, since his ice-cream was on a stick while Thomas’ was in a cone. The blond kept trying to catch all the melting drops with his tongue so that they wouldn’t fall on his hand, but a few still managed to land on it. Newt let out a sigh and seemed to give up on the action as he stopped twirling his tongue and just put the ice-cream in his mouth. An image popped into Thomas’ mind of him helping the other boy with his hands by dragging his own tongue over them, but before his brain could come up with anything else he abruptly stood up, feeling his whole face heat up.

“I-I-I…” He stammered quickly looking around the area to find something to excuse himself to while Newt stared at him questioningly. “I’m going to rent us some bikes!” He almost screamed as he saw a bike rent in the distance. “We need to stretch our legs a little, we’ve been sitting for too long already.” He imitated jogging in one place as Newt looked more and more confused. “I’ll be right back!” The boy took off before the other could say anything.

_Way to make yourself look like a complete nut-job._

_It wasn’t my fault he was eating his ice-cream so seductively. That could give ideas to anyone._ He started arguing with himself as he jogged towards the bike-rent.

_No, it wouldn’t._

_Yes, it would!_

_Fine, then imagine Minho eating ice-cream like that._

_That’s just gross._

_See?_

The brunet only shook his head as he shoved his remaining ice-cream into his mouth and immediately regretted doing that as he felt cold pain seeping through his teeth. He stopped in his tracks, coughed a few times before collecting himself and trying to walk normally towards the person who seemed like they were in charge of the stand.

“Um, yes, hello.” He said lamely as the girl, who seemed like she was about fifteen, turned to him with a bored look. “How much for an hour?”

The girl just pointed at a board, where in big letters it was written ‘1 hour – 10’ and continued chewing her gum. Thomas took out his wallet and opened it only to see that he didn’t have enough for two bikes. “Could you perhaps make a discount?” He asked hopefully, but the girl only shook her head.

“I’m guessing you’re not used to hearing ‘no’ with that pretty face, but no discounts, sorry.”

“Pretty face..?” Thomas murmured under his breath and was about to turn back when he noticed a bike that had a back seat and a pretty big basket in front and an idea came to him. “Okay then, I’ll take that one.” He pointed towards it and the girl raised an eyebrow.

“I thought you didn’t have enough for a bike.”

“I do.” He gave her a smile. “But I don’t have enough for two. I guess my friend will have to make-do with what we’ve got.”

The vendor just nodded and took the money he gave. “Come back in an hour and try not to damage the bike.”

“Oh right, maybe you also have some tissues?” He asked taking the bike. The girl rummaged through her bag and gave him a few without saying a word and before he could give his thanks she was already putting on earphones and turning away from him. He only shrugged and sat on the bike to get back to Newt and hopefully not have to explain himself too much.

As he got back, he saw the other boy still sitting in the same place and finishing off his ice-cream. He noticed the brunet and bit into the remains, chewing them without any change of expression and Thomas winced a little at that. He stopped the bike, got off and extended the tissues. “I got these for you.”

“Aw, how sweet of you,” Newt took them and started wiping his hands. “So I guess these are in place of a bike?”

“Yeaaah… Sorry about that, but I only had enough for one.” Thomas scratched his cheek with his index finger. “But we can still have fun with this.”

“Really now,” The blond stood up and walked closer to inspect the bike. “And how?”

“You can sit in the back or in front.” The shorter boy chirped happily. “I think the basket’s big enough for you.”

“You have got to be bloody kidding me.” Newt gave him an incredulous look, but when Thomas didn’t say anything and just kept grinning, he let out a defeated groan. “You’re not kidding.”

“Nope! Now come on, get on. We’ve only got an hour.” Thomas said gleefully.

“You know you’ll have to make it up to me for this, right?” The taller boy said as he tried to steady himself on the basket. “If you drop me I’ll never buy you ice-cream again.”

“I won’t make any promises.” Thomas cooed and tried pedaling, but Newt was obstructing his whole view and a sudden thought came to him that this might not have been the best idea. “Uhh, Newt?” He asked feeling a bit nervous.

“Yeah?”

“Can you tell me where I’m going?”

“What?” The other boy tried to look back at him, but that shifted the balance of the bike and Thomas felt himself losing control of the handlebars.

“No no no! Don’t do THAT!” He screamed from the top of his lungs. “I CAN’T SEE ANYTHING!”

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?!” Newt also started screaming as Thomas felt them starting to go down a slope. “OH DEAR GOD, I’M GONNA DIE, TOMMY, AND IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT! WHY DID I EVEN AGREE TO THIS?!”

“WHY DID YOU EVEN SIT IN FRONT?! THERE WAS A BACK-SEAT TOO!” Thomas tried to steer, but Newt was already fidgeting too much and whatever they were driving on became rocky all of a sudden.

“BECAUSE IT SEEMED MORE INTERESTING!” The blond still kept shrieking in his ear. “OUT OF ALL OF YOUR SHUCKING IDEAS THIS ONE’S THE WORST!”

“WELL YOU AGREED TO IT!” Thomas yelled before clutching on the breaks and making the bike halt with its tires screeching. Newt tumbled over from the basket and landed with a loud thump on the ground. Thomas quickly climbed off from the bike and got next to him. “Are you hurt?”

Newt just groaned in response without moving. “I’m perfectly fine, just dandy, thanks for asking.”

“Look, I’m sorry.” Thomas put up his hands in a pleading manner. “I’ll make it up to you.”

At that the blond slowly stood up and turned to the other boy. “Will you do anything?”

“Yeah, I’ll do anything you tell me to, just please don’t be mad.” The shorter boy tried to give his best apologetic look and it seemed to be working as Newt looked like he was trying to stay angry, but the corners of his mouth started quivering and eventually he smiled.

"Alright, but you'll have to keep your word."

Thomas felt some cold sweat forming at those words, but didn't say anything and just nodded intensively.

"Okay, but there's no way I'll be sitting in the front again." Newt said as he made himself comfortable at the back seat.

"I didn't force you to sit there, though." The brunet mumbled. "Anyway, do you have a destination in mind?"

"Sure, I've been here a thousand times, I know every nook and cranny in this town." Newt replied from the back as Thomas started pedaling. He felt the other's hands wrapping slightly on his waist but tried to ignore it.

"Really?" Thomas turned a little, quite surprised at this information.

"Of course not." The other boy said flatly. "I have no idea what the name of this town is. But I do know what I'd want to find."

"What is it?" Thomas asked as they passed a pile of cats sprawled on top if each other, sunbathing in the park.

"A thrift shop."

"A thrift shop?"

"A thrift shop." He heard his friend snicker. "It'll be fun if we can manage to find one. You'll get your punishment there."

"And now I'm kind of scared." The shorter boy gulped.

"Don't be, it won't be too bad. I promise you won't be needing too much medical help." Newt tickled him a bit on the ribs and Thomas lost his steering a little.

"Hey! Do you want to fall again?" He said trying to sound angry and failing miserably as a laugh escaped his mouth.

"I'd prefer not to answer." The blond breathed out near his ear before resting his head against Thomas' back.

"That doesn't sound too convincing." Thomas tried to joke a bit as the other became quiet.

"I guess... Well, anyway, keep on the lookout for the shop. I don't want us to miss it." Newt hummed out.

"Alright." The shorter boy agreed without any other retorts, since it didn't seem that the other was in the mood for them now.

A few more minutes passed in silence, though it wasn't really uncomfortable. Thomas enjoyed the feeling of another person leaning against him and it seemed that Newt also liked it. After they exited the park and went into the town, Newt finally perked up.

"Did you notice that there are basically no people around?" He asked, looking around a bit.

"Now that you mentioned it, this place really does have that ghost town feel."

"Maybe they're all asleep?"

"Why do you think so?" Thomas asked curiously.

"Since it's the middle of the day and it's really hot outside. They could be having some kind of a siesta. Though it seems that the shops are still open."

As Newt kept talking in the background about the weather, a slightly out of place shop caught Thomas' attention. It had big windows and colourful clothing displayed through them. He slowly stopped the bike and Newt seemed to notice the same shop too.

“I think I found what we were looking for.” Thomas looked at his friend with a proud smile.

“Seems like you did.” Newt ruffled his hair as he looked over the other’s shoulder. “How much time do we have left?”

“About half an hour for the bike and hour for the meeting.” The shorter boy answered after checking his phone.

“Alright, then let’s go through the park a few times, return the bike and then head back here.”

“You don’t mind just sitting and watching the scenery pass?” Thomas asked as he returned to pedaling, mentally marking where he saw the shop and how to get back to it.

“Not really, it’s nice just talking to you.” Newt answered softly.

Thomas kept silent after that, thinking about those words, but after a few more moments he started talking again. Though he didn’t mention it, he also enjoyed their chats. Mostly he just enjoyed being near the other boy, but that was something he really didn’t feel like telling him. At least for now.

As time ran out for the bike, the boys returned back to the place where Thomas had rented it. The girl was still lazily sitting on her chair, reading a book and chewing gum. She noticed the two and her expression changed just a slight bit to curiosity. “Do the good looking ones always travel in groups?” She asked with a small smile. Before either one of the boys could answer she just took the bike and put it back by the others. “I’ll ignore the small dent at the front. It was nice doing business with you.”

Thomas only waved at her awkwardly as he and Newt turned back to walk to the shop.

“She’s a little bit unusual.” The blond spoke up when they were out of hearing range. “But not in a bad way.”

“So you like them younger?” Thomas nudged him in the arm playfully.

“Just slightly.” The other winked at him with a warm smile.

It didn’t take long for them to trail back to the shop and Thomas was starting to feel more scared as Newt’s smile kept growing bigger. The bell chimed as they entered the colourful place, filled with all kinds of clothing; some of them even seemed like they were from other periods of time.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Thomas asked as Newt was already picking up something.

“I dunno, but here, try this on and wait till I find something else.” The other answered as he gave him a tacky bright yellow shirt and turned around to go through the clothing racks. Thomas just sighed and headed towards the changing rooms. He felt like this might take a while.

Newt kept choosing the most ridiculous clothing he could find and taking pictures of Thomas as the shorter boy felt more and more exhausted. He had already tried on every variation of the neon shirt and flared pants combination and Newt had also found some bandanas to add to the mix. After those came the horrid combinations of whatever looked the most eye catching. He was forced to wear a crop-top with ‘SWAG’ written on it in bold letters, a bright pink and baby blue tutu skirt, cowboy boots and a tiara to top it all. Newt kept taking pictures from every angle he could manage and Thomas only felt dead inside.

_Look at your life. Look at your choices._

When Newt finally stopped laughing and declared that he was finished with his ‘art section’ Thomas almost ripped off the clothing on him, but managed to contain himself. The two boys exited the shop, but before they could head back to the arranged meeting place Newt halted in his tracks, turned back and went into the shop, asking for Thomas to wait for him outside. The brunet stood as he was told, not even caring anymore what would happen to him. After a few minutes the taller boy returned and while smiling put something on his head.

“What is it?” Thomas asked as he tried to take off the thing, but Newt stopped his hand.

“The last part of the punishment and a present from me.” He patted down the other’s hair and started strolling down the road. “Now come on, we’ll be late.”

As they reached the car Teresa and Brenda were already there and the two of them were talking about something intensively with a lot of hand gestures, but as they saw the two others they stopped and then just mostly stared at Thomas.

“Um, should I ask why you’re wearing that?” Brenda finally spoke up.

Thomas glanced at Newt and when the other nodded he took off the thing on his head and inspected it. It was a silver tiara with some fake glass jewels glued onto it. “Seriously?” was all he could say as he looked back at the blond.

“It fit you.”

And then a sudden whim came to Thomas to put back the tiara on his head. He placed it on again and looked at the girls, who still seemed somewhat confused. “It fits me.”

Just as those words left his mouth a shout came from behind them. “Yooo! The fashion police called and they wanted you to know that you broke every law in their book.” Minho snickered as he and Jorge joined everyone by the car.

“Why does he seem to know what we were doing?” Thomas whispered to Newt so that others would hear.

“I may or may not have snapchatted him a few pictures.” The taller boy said while averting his eyes from meeting Thomas’ accusing glare.

“And I can bet whatever that’s left of my dignity that he saved all of those pictures. You do realize that now he has more than enough material to blackmail me if he ever needs to?”

“I figured he already had enough material on you.”

“You’re probably right.” Thomas gave in and turned back to Minho. “Lay it on me, I’ll take whatever you throw.”

“Aw, man, don’t be that way. I only wanted to compliment you on your beautiful headwear.” Minho grinned at him.

“It makes me feel pretty.” The shorter boy answered, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

“Like the prettiest princess around?”

“Like the prettiest princess in the world, to be more exact.”

“And here I thought that Minho was the only royalty here.” Jorge spoke up leaning against the car. “A royal pain in the ass.”

“Seems like the king of douchebaggery has something to say.” The Asian barked back and raised an eyebrow. “You wanna go?”

“Mostly I’d just like to go find a nice camping place to stay. We don’t want to waste our time arguing about obvious stuff, now do we, hermano?” Jorge smirked at him.

It seemed like Minho was about to jump Jorge, so Thomas steered him towards the front of the car. “Just don’t drive off a cliff. It’s not worth it.” The brunet said as he patted his friend on the back. Minho only turned back to Jorge, pointed at his own eyes and then at the other’s in the world-wide known sign of ‘I’ll be watching you’ and sat at the steering wheel. Everyone else also got back in the car and Teresa said that she and Brenda had found a nice place that could be used for camping. Minho followed her instructions and shortly after they were driving up a hill that was near the town. They finally stopped at a cliff that just seemed to end abruptly.

It took some time to set up the tents, but everyone was already starting to learn how to do it better than how they had managed at the beginning. The first night they just gave up after half an hour of trying and just slept in the car, but when everyone woke up complaining about back pains like old geezers it was decided that the tents were a must.

They were beginning to get used to spending the evenings around a campfire and either talking about various things, playing games or making fun out of each other. This time was not that different either, only ghost stories got thrown into the mix too. Jorge and Brenda had the most to tell and both of them just kept speaking one after the other. Thomas noticed that Minho was progressively getting closer to him as the evening stretched on. By the time it was completely dark the Asian boy had managed to somehow get in between him and Newt and was shaking a bit, though when asked he denied everything. Teresa just mostly laughed at the stories and after Brenda had to ask her to stop ruining the mood the girl tried to contain her giggles to a minimum.

When the ghost stories finally drained out everyone dispersed into their tents. They had three of them, which weren’t too big, so in the beginning it had been decided that two people would sleep together. Teresa and Brenda had gotten one, since their argument was that they were the only girls and they didn’t want to sleep next to a snoring guy. Thomas and Newt had gotten the second one because it seemed the most logical as they were childhood friends and Newt still knew Thomas the best. That had left Minho and Jorge with the last tent and it had sparked some conflict, mostly from Minho’s side. Jorge had said that he would cut the other’s fingers off if he tried any funny business while he was asleep and Minho threatened of setting him on fire. That seemed pretty reasonable to both of them and in the end they complied.

Thomas fell asleep pretty quickly and didn’t even stir, up until the point when a shrill shriek resounded through the air in the middle of the night. The boy jolted from his sleeping bag and saw that Newt had done the same next to him.

“What the bloody hell was that?” The blond looked at him.

“I have no idea, but I think we should check it out.” Thomas said as he stood up and got out of the tent. He saw Brenda and Teresa doing the same but Jorge and Minho didn’t appear. The four that were outside exchanged glances and then walked towards the third tent. Newt opened the entrance up and what they saw was Jorge laughing like a maniac and Minho was sitting frozen and his eyes wide open, staring into nothing.

“What happened here?” Teresa asked looking at Jorge.

“I have no idea, but he woke me up by screaming like a little baby and then he just kept muttering something to himself like a crazy person.” Jorge answered after seemingly managing to calm himself down. “It looked hilarious.”

Newt knelt down next to Minho and put a hand on his shoulder. “Would you want to tell us why you were screaming?”

Minho turned up to him with a scared look on his face. “It was the nerds.” he whispered.

“The nerds?” Thomas asked having no idea what the other was talking about.

“Yes, Thomas, the nerds.” Minho looked him dead in the eye. “They invaded. It was horrible.”

“And you completely lost me.” Teresa said as she turned around. “Come on, Brenda. Let’s go back to sleep. The baby here only dreamt a nightmare.”

Brenda only looked at Minho with a mix of disappointment and pity and also left after the other girl, since it was already really cramped in the little tent to even stay there longer.

“You want to talk about it?” Newt asked the dark haired boy, though it looked like he was trying to contain from laughing himself when Jorge burst out in another fit after hearing what the fuss was about.

“You know what? It’ll be better if I come to your tent.” Minho suddenly stood up with his sleeping bag.

“Uh, why?” Thomas looked at him quizzically.

“I’ll feel less judged there.” He looked at Jorge accusingly.

“Wait wait-“ Newt was cut off as Minho walked passed him and towards their tent, opened it up and entered it.

“What just happened?” Thomas felt like that question was repeated way too much in that short span of time.

“I have no idea.” The blond muttered back and then sighed. “Come on, let’s get back to sleep. I only hope there will be enough place to lie down comfortably.”

The two got back into their own tent and saw that Minho had sprawled in the middle of both of their sleeping bags and was already peacefully snoring.

“Maybe we should carry him back?” Thomas suggested.

“I think he’ll start kicking and punching before we manage to walk even half of the distance.”

“Then what do we do?”

“I’m not feeling that sleepy now,” Newt said looking at the other. “I’ll stay up outside for a bit and maybe try to come up what we could do with him.”

Thomas realized at those words that he also wasn’t that tired anymore, all of his sleep vanishing somewhere. “I’ll join you then.” He said with a small smile and then walked towards the edge of the cliff and sat down as Newt did the same. The night was pretty warm too, so they didn’t feel too cold with only their sleepwear on.

The town below them glowed in a gentle light from the streetlamps and some sporadic window lights and above them the scattered stars did the same. Thomas thought that the view looked really beautiful.

Both of them just sat in silence, looking at the sight in front of them, and after a while Thomas felt his eyelids getting heavier again. He glanced at Newt and was a bit surprised that the other wasn’t looking at the sky anymore, but at him. The brunet didn’t say anything and only looked at him a little questioningly, but as Newt didn’t say anything either he only stood up. “Let’s go, we need to get at least some sleep.”

The blond nodded and stood up himself.

“You know, the view was really nice. I’m glad that Teresa and Brenda found this place.” Thomas said as they neared their tent.

“Yeah, it really was.” Newt answered quietly.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry this one took so long, schoolwork has been hectic lately. The other updates might also take some time, but I'll try to get them out as soon as possible. That said, I want to thank all of you who left such nice comments, you are all amazing and you're the ones who help me write this thing~  
> Also the ice-cream names are a real thing. Those were sold at a place near where I lived and I remember how much fun we made out of them when me and my friends were little.  
> If you want to imagine how Thomas looked in Newt's pics http://mizhacollins.tumblr.com/post/103899603832/i-would-like-to-thank-myu-for-her-amazing


	4. Chapter 4

One day as they were driving, Minho noticed an advertisement of a summer festival on a billboard, that indicated where it would be happening and at what time. The Asian boy stopped the car and looked back at everyone with a slight grin on his face. “So, what do you all think about getting some summer partying at a nearby hippie-fest?”

Teresa froze up at that question, but the others immediately agreed to this idea. Thomas gave his own answer without thinking too much as he vigorously nodded. Newt also seemed entertained by the thought of going to a festival, since he joined in to the collective response of ‘yeahs’. The only one who didn’t perk up was Teresa, but when Minho turned to her she only made a weak smile and nodded.

“Then it’s settled,” The dark haired boy started the car again. “It’s not even that far away, I think, and it spans over a few days, so we’ll be there just in time.”

Just as he had said, they got to the place in about an hour and it was packed with people. It took them a while just to find a place to park the car and when everyone got out Thomas looked over everything in slight awe. There were tons of stalls and tents scattered around the area, each one of them attracting the eyes of their customers with colourful banners and lively vendors. A huge stage stood in the back and some band was already playing while the nearby people danced. Thomas also noticed a pretty big bonfire that wasn’t yet lit up, so he guessed it would be when the evening rolled around.

“This looks awesome.” He said to Newt, who was standing closest to him. “I mean we never really had any big events in our small town except from the regular holiday celebrations and the annual knitting competition.”

“Is it still going?” Newt asked as they started heading towards the stalls.

“Oh yeah, I think it’s gotten even bigger now.” Thomas shivered a little from a fleeting memory of his grandma almost suffocating him with twenty scarves. “The contestants are getting more aggressive every year.”

His friend chuckled at that and then looked over at him with a smile. “You know, I always kinda liked it. Everyone would get together and it was really fun.”

“Then maybe we should attend it this year?” Thomas’ eyes lit up as he said that. “I’m sure you’ll be welcomed with open arms and perhaps finally I won’t be the only guinea pig for my grandma.”

“So that’s the reason you’re so eager to get me to come?” Newt smirked slightly.

“Everyone has to go through it. Minho was forced to wear a different hat every day for two weeks last year by his grandma, since she wanted to know which one was the most ‘functional’. You should have seen it – bunny ears, braided ponytails, Viking helmet, you name it!” Thomas threw his arms up for exaggeration. “Teresa got it slightly better, since her grandparents wanted to try out their luck with mittens and gloves. She could just shove her hands in her pockets and be done with it.”

“And what did you get stuck with?”

“Scarves.” The shorter boy answered flatly.

“No elaboration this time?”

“Other than the fact that I almost drowned in them when grandma decided to put all of them on me at the same time - no.”

“Okay, then I promise I’ll take half of the scarves next time.” Newt gave him a pat on the back as they stopped next to one of the biggest stalls that was crowded by people. The sign read ‘Colour your world’ and Thomas noticed tons of buckets and bowls filled with paint. People were painting each other in various ways, some just mostly playing with the brushes and splashing the colours aimlessly, some looking quite immersed in their work as they carefully traced the other persons’ skin.

“Ooh, this looks interesting.” Newt let out a whistle and turned around to beckon the rest of their friends, who were looking at other nearby attractions, to join them. Minho and Teresa almost collided into Thomas as they slid on the wet from the paint grass while running towards him. Jorge swung his arm over the shorter boys’ shoulders as he looked over the stall.

“Feeling like finding your inner Van Gogh?” He asked with a huge grin on his face that made Thomas just slightly uncomfortable.

“Sure, why not?” He answered nervously as the taller boy guided him towards the person who looked like he was in charge of the stall.

Everyone got their own share of paint and brushes and they took their place on the grass next to all the other people. Thomas kept skeptically staring at the paintbrush in his hand; he had never really excelled at artistic things. He just knew he would fuck this up. He looked up to meet Newts’ eyes and the other boy gave him a reassuring smile. Well, at least someone believed in him.

 After a few seconds Newt shifted his gaze to something behind Thomas and his eyes widened. Thomas turned his head to see what the other was so surprised about and almost chocked on his saliva. Brenda was nonchalantly taking off her t-shirt while chatting with Teresa.

“Whoah, whoah, whoah, what are you doing?!” Thomas ran to her and tried to pull her clothes back down. “We’re in a public place!”

Brenda just groaned at him and easily maneuvered out of his hands. “I know where we are and I don’t really care about people watching. I want my back to be painted and I’m not going to let that up only because I’m female.”

“But, Brenda-“ Thomas whined at her like a little kid.

“If it makes you happy I’ll put on a tank top later.” She softened her look and the brunet boy sighed. This was the best he would get, so he wouldn’t pry further.

“Well I think that’s a great idea.” Teresa joined in. “Maybe I’ll follow you in this.”

“Oh now you’re just doing this on purpose.”  Thomas tried to look annoyed, but his façade quickly broke as they all started laughing.

 “If the girls are doing it, then so am I.” Minho appeared seemingly out of nowhere, his shirt already gone from his body. Newt raised an eyebrow at him as he stood with his arms folded and looked like he was about to say something, but he was abruptly cut off as Jorge’s shirt landed on his head.

“I say we all should get as much of our bodies painted as possible!” The now shirtless boy declared. “Who’s with me?” He got a roar of ‘yeahs’ as an answer and looked elevated as he sat down on the grass. “Then I shall be the first victim. Go on, let your artistic kills flow,” he said as he closed his eyes. “Just nothing too vulgar.” He added as an afterthought.

Minho happily sat behind him with his paintbrush extended. “I’m making no promises.” They boy cooed and before the other could answer he had already started scribbling something on his skin. Jorge let out an exasperated sigh but didn’t stop the Asian boy.

Thomas turned his attention from Jorge, who seemed resigned to his fate, and looked back at Newt, who was starting to take off his own t-shirt. The blond dropped the fabric on the ground as he sat down and looked up to Thomas. “I guess if we’re all doing this then you can draw on my back. I just hope we won’t get rashes or something from this paint.”

Thomas took a few moments to realize that the other boy was speaking to him as he couldn’t help but stare at the naked skin before him. He quickly shook himself out of his daze and tried to give a casual laugh. “Well, it’s supposed to be organic, so I don’t think it’ll harm us too much.” He walked behind Newt and sat down as he picked up a brush and looked at the other boys’ back. He gulped and felt a bit of nervousness pool at his stomach. “I should warn you that I’m really bad at this stuff, though.”

Newt just shrugged. “I don’t mind if you mess up, it won’t be a big deal.” He then turned his head slightly to look at Thomas. “You can just paint some swirls and random shapes; it doesn’t need to be anything coherent.” Thomas felt a little relieved at those words and gave a smile and a nod as an answer. Newt turned his head away and relaxed his body.

After a few brushes here and there Thomas finally decided that he could try drawing something resembling a snake wrapped around the others’ body. He took some black paint, but as he dipped the brush his fingers also got smudged in the liquid. He started at them for a few moments before looking at Newts’ back and again at his fingers. Before he even realized what he was doing, he felt his fingers gently tracing Newt’s back. The other shuddered slightly at the touch, but didn’t comment on it and Thomas continued what he was doing, feeling mesmerized by the smooth skin and the muscle and bones beneath it. He carefully slid his index finger around the neck while slowly circling the sitting boy and went over to his shoulder-blades. Newt had his eyes closed, so Thomas wasn’t sure if the blond knew he wasn’t using a paintbrush.

After finally finishing with the waist Thomas started on Newt’s hands and arms. The blond compliantly raised his arms, so that it would be easier for Thomas to work. The shorter boy lost track of time as he kept dipping his finger into paint and returning back to his friends’ skin. The action was kind of soothing and he thought he now understood why art therapy was a thing. When he needed to start on the legs he asked Newt to stand up and the other boy finally opened his eyes as he did that. After blinking a few times Newts’ eyes widened a bit as he saw Thomas working on his left leg, but then a warm smile crept up on his face.

“So I wasn’t wrong in my assumptions that you were using something different from a paintbrush.” He said as he still kept his eyes fixed on Thomas, who seemed to be snapped back to reality as he abruptly turned his head up to look at him with a slightly surprised look on his face and a brush in-between his teeth.

“Oh, I erm, I thought this would be more comfortable?” The brunet said, sounding like he was asking the question to himself. “I can use the brush if you don’t like it.”

“Nah, it doesn’t matter,” Newt waved his hand dismissively. “I guess you could say it’s even more artistic this way.”

Thomas gave a wide toothy smile at that and concentrated back to painting.

When he finally finished with the right leg, Thomas stood up and took a few steps back to evaluate his work. Newt stood still as the shorter boy circled him a few times. It looked like a thin black snake had entwined the other boy’s body and to Thomas that appeared pretty cool. He stepped in front of Newt with his hands on his hips and looked him up and down again.

“Even if I’m not that good at art, I think this looks awesome on you.” He finally said, feeling just a little bit proud of himself.

“Alright then,” Newt replied while looking over himself. “Now it’s your turn.”

“What will you draw?” The brunet asked as he sat down in the same spot that his friend had just occupied and took off his shirt.

“Something similar to what you did.” Newt hummed out as he took no time in starting. “This way we’ll match a little.”

Excitement rushed over Thomas at those words and he closed his eyes to relax. He felt a cold touch that trailed down his spine which made him arch his back and wondered if Newt was using a paintbrush or if he also decided to go with finger-painting. He couldn’t tell exactly, but just a tiny bit of him hoped it would be the latter.

Newt started moving around him, so Thomas guessed he would also get his whole body painted. After a bit his friend asked him to stand up but without opening his eyes. The shorter boy shuddered a bit as he felt warm breath near his ear. “It’s gonna be a surprise.” Newt said softly as he crouched down to start working on his legs. Thomas only hoped that his face wasn’t as hot as he felt it becoming.

When Thomas had already begun feeling numb in his legs he let out a sigh of happiness as Newt said that he was done. He cracked open his eyes and blinked a little from the blinding sunrays. When his sight finally got adjusted he saw Newt standing in front of him, looking proud of himself.

“Let’s go find a mirror and see how it went.” The blond suggested as he spun around looking if anything similar was near. Thomas tried not to look down, since he wanted to see the full view of Newt’s work.

They found a pretty big mirror leaning on the side of the painting stall, most likely put there for the reason they were looking for. Thomas let Newt take the first look, even though he was itching to see how he looked like himself. The blond boy stood in front of the mirror for a few moments before he started slowly turning to check his back, but no distinct emotion appeared on his face and Thomas began feeling nervous that perhaps he messed up big time and his friend didn’t like what he had drawn.

Just as he was about to start apologizing Newt turned to look at him with a smile plastered on his face. “This looks amazing.” He said as he shifted his gaze back to the mirror. “I had only seen a bit of my arms and legs while I was drawing, but the full view seriously looks great.”

Thomas exhaled from relief at those words and the look on Newts’ face told him that his words were genuine. He kept twisting his body and neck to inspect the drawing that snaked all around him, though after a few minutes the boy seemed to suddenly realize that he wasn’t alone and turned to look at Thomas.

“Oh yeah, you also want to see yourself.” He said looking a tad bit apologetic. “Sorry I hogged the mirror.” The blond then side-stepped to let the other come closer.

Honestly Thomas didn’t mind what Newt had been doing and was amused at how he had reverted to acting as an excited kid again. It felt a bit nostalgic. Though he couldn’t hide the fact that he was also quite interested at how he looked like, so the brunet quickly stepped in front of the mirror and couldn’t stop his eyes from widening.

A maze-like pattern stretched out throughout his whole body, seemingly never-ending. Thomas also tried crooking his neck to see his back and caught a glimpse of the same pattern there too. His breath hitched as he took the whole thing in again while looking back at the mirror and then he abruptly turned back to Newt feeling excitement welling up at the pits of his stomach.

“Oh my god, this looks awesome!” He exclaimed while still trying not to raise his voice too much. “How did you manage to do all of this, it looks freaking professional.”

Newt actually looked slightly bashful for a second before a pleasant smile came back to his face. “I took art classes…”

“Well, you’re brilliant at it, I even feel like I want to pay you.” Thomas said lightheartedly as he stepped closer to his friend. “The others will be so jealous of my awesome paint-job.”

The two boys then walked over to Brenda and Teresa, who also seemed immersed in their work. Well, Teresa was; Brenda only sat fidgeting like she was about to jump out of her skin.

“When will you be done already? I wanna see it.” She whined.

“A few more minutes, geez.” Teresa replied with a tone of annoyance in her voice. “You’ve been asking that for the last ten minutes.” The girl didn’t even seem to notice the two newcomers as they silently stood there, watching her work. Thomas leaned in to get a closer look and saw a red and black flower pattern adoring the sitting girls’ back. It didn’t go through her whole torso, only at her shoulders and shoulder-blades, but it looked quite stunning. Teresa was highly concentrated on her work, the brushes soft and delicate, forming sharp petals all across the skin.

After a few more minutes the girl finally seemed content in her work and took a few steps back. Only then did she notice the two boys standing next to her. “Wow, you guys look great!” She said with amazement. “Like you’re just out of a tattoo salon.”

“You also did a pretty good job here.” Newt nodded towards Brenda, who had stood up and was trying to bend her neck at 180 degrees to see her back. After a few failed attempts she gave up and inched towards her friends.

“You don’t think there could be a mirror somewhere around here?” She looked up expectantly at them. ”It seems that I still haven’t acquired the ability to crane like an owl. Gonna have to keep working on that.”

“Actually there is one near the stall where we got the paint.” Thomas answered pointing towards the place he and Newt had just come from. “Did you both only draw on each other’s backs?”

“Yeah, we figured we could also put on some random stripes on our faces later.” Teresa said as she turned around and pointed with her thumbs at her back. “How does it look like? I was told these were supposed to be wings.”

On her back was indeed a pair of huge wings, not too complicated, but still seemingly charming as they enveloped her whole torso. Brenda scratched the back of her head absentmindedly as she shifted her gaze somewhere else. “I just thought these would fit her.” She murmured and then quickly grabbed the other girls’ hand as she started walking towards the stall. “Come on, let’s see how it turned out.”

Just as the girls left with Teresa making half-hearted protests Thomas felt a harsh slap on his back and stumbled a few steps forward. “Hey, what the hell?!” He turned around angrily but saw that it was only Minho grinning at him. Jorge was standing next to the boy, looking like he had just lost everything he had ever loved and held dear in his life. Minho had markings resembling tribal tattoos all over his body and something written on his right arm that appeared like ‘Mean Hoe’ and Jorge… Well, Jorge had a ton of scribbles and a giant smiley face on his stomach. It looked like a group of toddlers with paint and crayons were set loose on him and used his body as a canvas.

“Who’s ready to party now that we have these killer tats? “ Minho asked animatedly.

“Why did I even let him do this to me?” Jorge mumbled. “Why did I even put effort into drawing on him?” He looked at Thomas with an incredulous expression on his face. “Why did you all get normal drawings?” He then looked up at the sky as he whispered. “What did I ever do to deserve this?”

Thomas let out a strained laugh at the older male as he put a hand on his shoulder trying to console him. “Don’t worry; it’s not too… bad?” He raised an eyebrow at Newt, trying to silently ask for his help. The other seemed to understand him and quickly came up to Jorge as well.

“I could try fixing a few of these if you want.”

“Why would he even need that, he looks amazing.” Minho smirked. “He did say we could ‘let our artistic skills flow’.”

Jorge only growled at him and then turned back to Newt with a huge smile. “You would? Then I’ll take you up on that offer, it seems like you did a brilliant job on Thomas.”

As the oldest boy sat down and closed his eyes waiting for Newt to do his magic on him the girls came back. Brenda strutted towards the blond and whispered something in his ear while pointing towards Jorge. Thomas tried to make out what she was asking, but the girl was too quiet. Newt only nodded and pointed to a bucket of blue paint near his feet. The girl then suddenly grabbed the paint and in a split second Jorge was covered from head to toe in cerulean. It seemed like for a few moments he didn’t even realize what had just happened before he calmly stood up, paint slowly dripping from his hair and whole body down onto the ground. He wiped his face with his hand and then turned to Brenda, who was clutching her stomach as she tried to control her laughter and Newt, who stood frozen with a surprised expression.

“So I guess you have a death wish?” Jorge asked in a low voice and Thomas subconsciously took a step backwards, even though he was standing relatively far away from the whole ordeal.

“You seemed kind of blue, so I decided your appearance should match your mood.” Brenda hissed out through her laughter. “Now you only need a white hat.”

At those words Jorge leapt towards her, grasping with his hands at thin air, as the girl already had managed to start running from him. He chased after her, shouting profanities as Minho laughed in the background. Thomas also felt laughter bubble up in the back of his throat and looked amusedly at Newt, who just stood in the same place he had originally been while shaking his head and seemingly forcing himself not to smile and failing.

* * *

 

The day continued with all of them checking out every stall that had caught their attention. After a while Jorge had seemed to calm down and accept his fate and as the hours passed, he even started looking like he was enjoying himself and didn’t even mind how he looked.

Thomas had found a flower-crown making booth and managed to convince the others to join him as he explained that he always wanted to try making one of these himself. Teresa declined the offer immediately and Jorge said that he’d probably just mess everything up, but the other three agreed. Brenda made one from pink and white camellias and gave it as a present to Teresa, who at first tried to turn it down, but eventually gave in and put it on her head.

Minho, surprisingly, weaved an elegant crown from primroses and proceeded to put it on his own head while sticking out his tongue at Thomas. The other boy only looked at him incredulously and continued working on his own, that was made from a batch of forget-me-nots. He smiled softly when it was done and he had managed to make it presentable. He raised his head and caught Newt looking at him. The other boy quickly averted his eyes and practically pushed his own creation from daffodils at Thomas’ chest while muttering something about the colour not matching well with his hair, so he had decided that the other could have it.

Thomas stared stupidly at the crown for a few moments before realizing he was supposed to take it. He gently put it on his head and thanked Newt with a genuine smile. Now it seemed that his idea to give his friend the wreath that he had made could work even better. While Newt had turned his head to watch Minho rant how they were looking like true hippies now, Thomas quietly stood behind his back and put down the crown on the blonds’ head. Newt looked up sharply, but when he realized it was only Thomas, he let out a sigh and shook his head. He thanked for the gift as he stood up from the booths’ table and Thomas couldn’t help but think that the colour of the flowers really suited the other.

As the sunlight slowly disappeared and darkness enveloped the sky, the huge bonfire was lit up. Everyone gathered around it even though the evening was quite warm and people were still in summery clothing or even without half of it.

A couple of announcers continued offering all kinds of games for the public to take part in in-between the bands and the songs that they played. At first, while the sun was still up, it was mostly athletic games and relays, but when everyone gathered around the fire and closer to the illuminated stage they became more music driven, such as dancing like the announcers were or even trying out your luck at karaoke.

“All right, everyone!” the male announcer beamed happily and Thomas had to wonder for the umpteenth time that day how he and his female partner had managed to stay so energetic during the whole festival. “Do you see the closest person to you?” He asked and Thomas turned to his right to regard Newt, who was also doing the same with a slightly confused expression. The two boys then turned to look at the announcer again, who was now explaining the task that everyone was supposed to do. “When the next song comes up I want all of you to grab that person and dance your hearts out! It doesn’t matter if you know them or not, this could be a great chance to introduce yourselves. Of course, by no means is this mandatory, but let’s just have a great time together!”

A slightly fluttery feeling crept up in Thomas’ stomach as he realized what the man had said and who was standing the closest to him. He warily turned his head to look at Newt and see if the other would flat-out reject the idea or if there was perhaps the slightest chance that he’d like it. Thomas had admitted to himself that he really wouldn’t mind dancing with the blond.

Newt also turned to look at his friend again and Thomas couldn’t help but grin as the other shrugged and extended his hand.

“May I have the pleasure?” Newt asked with a small smile on his face. It didn’t even look like he was joking or doing it ironically and Thomas gladly took the others’ hand. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Brenda and Teresa were also playfully dancing together while Minho seemed like he was trying to impress some blonde girl by flexing his arms and showing her the one with the writing on it. Jorge was nowhere to be seen, so Thomas guessed he had wondered off somewhere at the other side of the group of people gathered near the stage and the fire.

The song wasn’t too fast or too slow and it was quite cheerful, so at first the two boys started dancing like a pair of little kids at a kindergartens’ party with both of their hands clasped in the others’ and just jumping back and forth while not managing to contain their laughter and smiles. They had been standing fairly close to the bonfire, so while they were dancing Thomas took time to notice how the warm fire engulfed Newt with its’ flickering light, accentuating his features and shrouding him in a gentle glow. Frankly, to Thomas the sight was pretty breathtaking and he even stumbled slightly over his feet as he kept staring and had forgotten to concentrate on his movements. Newt let out a hearty laugh at that and took a step closer as the song became a bit slower, reducing the space between them.

As they were now standing closer it wasn’t comfortable having both of their hands clasped, so without even thinking too much, Thomas let his body move on its’ own as he put his hands over Newts’ shoulders and laced his fingers behind his head. Newt seemed to understand what his friend as doing, so he also moved his hands and put them on Thomas’ waist.

A small thought went through Thomas’ mind that this wasn’t exactly something two friends would ordinary do, but he ignored it for the moment. He just wanted to have some fun for now.

When the song finally came to its’ final chords the brunet boy gave a wide smile as he looked at the other and got a mirrored one in return. Both of them leaned their heads slightly forward as their foreheads touched and they both breathed slightly heavier, though Thomas didn’t recall them moving too actively during the dance.

It didn’t really matter anyway…

* * *

 

The night moved on and soon the first rays of light started showing up from the horizon. Some people had disappeared during those hours, perhaps to sleep or to do something else, but Thomas didn’t care too much about them. Some were still left near the stage, but most of the participants of the festival were moving a lot slower and mostly just enjoyed the company of their other still awake friends.

Right before the dawn Newt had offered Thomas to go and find a quieter place to watch the sun climb up and the boy agreed with the motion wholeheartedly. He did feel exhausted after a whole night of being awake, but for some reason he still didn’t feel like going to sleep. He followed his friend as they looked for a more secluded place and found one just behind the stall where they had previously painted each other. The grass was quite colourful around that place, but they found a greener patch to sit down and lean on the back wall of the stall.

Both of them sat in silence for a few minutes and as they waited for the sun to rise Thomas began carelessly tracing the drawing on his body with his finger. The twists and turns seemed never-ending and he couldn’t find from where they began and where they ended.

“What are you doing?” He was snapped out of his daze as a voice next to him asked the question. The shorter boy quickly stopped what he was doing and turned to the other, who was looking at him quizzically.

“Nothing really, just looking for the end of this maze.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “I mean these things always have something like an objective or a goal, right?”

“A goal, huh?” Newt hummed out. He then suddenly stood up and looked around. “Wait a bit, I’m gonna come back in a minute.” As Thomas just nodded he disappeared behind the corner of the stall.

Newt came back quickly while holding something in his hand. The boy flopped down next to his friend and Thomas saw that he had brought a small cup of red paint. “What’s that for?” He asked with interest.

“Well,” Newt trailed off as he dipped his index finger into the paint. “You said you were looking for a goal in my drawing, right?”

“Yeah…” Thomas was beginning to understand what the other was trying to do, but didn’t say anything else.

“So I’m going to mark a goal.” The blond said softly as he pressed his now red finger at Thomas’ chest, slightly to the right from the middle of it. He then slowly retracted his hand, wiping his finger on the grass and turned to look at the rising sun. He didn’t say anything after that, so Thomas just kept staring at him, wondering if he should comment on what just happened or not.

In the end he decided not to break the silence.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so sooo sorry this took so long. School has been so hectic, especially with this celebration we have that marks 100 days left until graduation and every 12th grade class has to do a performance. That said, the next chapter will most likely also take quite some time, but I'll try to post it as soon as I can.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, guess who's not actually dead?  
> I wonder if anyone will even read this anymore, but honestly I mosty just want some closure and this fic was never meant to be very long. Actually, including this chapter there are only two left and then a short epilogue, so this time I'll try to finish it for real.  
> Anyway, for anyone who might still be reading this - enjoy

The small group's travels had gone into longer than one month. They usually drove wherever seemed more interesting or they'd just flip a coin at a crossroad. That had resulted in a few incidents containing a lot of swearing, a broken down car in the middle of nowhere and/or weird locals who didn't take kindly to outsiders.

From time to time Thomas would wonder about the few days they had spent at the festival and what had happened between him and Newt. He felt as if the subject was too fragile and that one wrong word could break it, so he had decided to not say anything about it to Newt, who also avoided talking about it.

It seemed that Teresa had noticed the awkwardness and avoidance between the two boys and she had tried to subtly ask Thomas about it. She seemed genuinely worried that they might have fought, but Thomas had assured her that it was nothing of the kind. Still, he would sometimes catch her giving him weird glances whenever he and Newt were chatting about trivial stuff.

One of the days they were driving since morning and the time seemed to move at a snail's pace. When midday came along Minho suddenly stopped the car and groaned loudly. He then turned around to his slightly confused friends. "Honestly, shuck this shit, man. I just want to sleep in a bed for once and not wake up with someone's foot in my face and with back pains. I'm not eighty."

"Though he's the one usually doing the feet sticking," Newt murmured quietly so only Thomas could hear him.

"I say we stop at the first bigger town we come across and have some luxury for once in a while," Minho announced.

"Actually, I don't think that's too bad of an idea," Brenda joined in and then made a face. "Wow, that was weird to say."

"Finally, someone who acknowledges my genius," Minho smirked.

"Now let's not go that far," Brenda put up one of her hands. "Anyway, I think we could all use some comfy beds and well prepared food."

"Then it's settled," Minho hummed happily. "Leave everything to me and you shall all be dining like kings and queens tonight."

"What got into him?" Thomas thought out loud as the Asian boy started the car up again. "He didn't really need to stop the car for this."

"Maybe the stagnation got to him?" Newt answered with another question. "He seems like the type who doesn't stay in one place for too long."

"True, true," Thomas nodded his head while crossing his arms. "He did try to join as many physical clubs as possible during the school years and kept changing them one after the other. Eventually he settled on the track one and even became the captain of the team."

"Why am I not surprised," Newt let out a soft chuckle.

"Later he even coaxed me into it," Thomas continued.

"Did he really? I'd think you would choose that yourself." Newt raised an eyebrow and Thomas felt his ears reddening.

"Details," he humpfed and after a moment of silence both of them erupted in laughter. 

No, Thomas was sure that there wasn't anything bad between him and Newt. Only something unresolved.

* * *

 

As evening came Minho finally drove them into a city. Thomas wasn't even sure what the name was, since he had drifted off at some point and missed any billboards or signs indicating it. It felt kind of surreal to see more civilization after a period of time with barely any of it.

They stopped at one of the motels, because none of them wanted to spend too much money for most likely only one or two nights here. The rooms had double beds, so everyone stayed in the same arrangement as in the tents.

"Finally, a soft bed!" Teresa exclaimed as she fell face first into her own as soon as Brenda opened their door.

"There's even a mini-fridge here!" Jorge shouted from his room.

"Seems like everyone's having fun," Newt noted as he and Thomas walked into their room. Both of them looked around and Thomas had to agree - it wasn't too bad. There were two beds near each other, a mini-fridge, as Jorge had shouted, and even a TV.

"Wow," Thomas gave a low mock whistle, "I'm not sure we're worthy of this kind of luxury."

"Don't worry," Newt nudged him playfully on his arm, "after what we've been through, we should at least get a castle."

Suddenly Brenda appeared in their doorway with a slide of her shoes making both of the boys turn their attention to her.

"Sooo," she trailed off with a small glint in her eyes, "me and Jorge were thinking we could celebrate our newfound amenities by going out. What do you guys think?"

Both of the boys exchanged a look before Newt shrugged and Thomas nodded. "Sure," the shorter boy answered, "might as well try it. What did you have in mind?"

"Clubs, duuh," she said as it was the most obvious thing. "We're all legal adults if you want to go into technicalities and I feel obligated to get you small town kids to know the feeling of a true big city."

"Aren't you also from the same town?" Newt asked confused.

"Sure, but me and Jorge would always go to all kinds of clubs whenever we got the chance. And believe me," she winked, "we had a lot of chances."

* * *

 

The atmosphere in the club was suffocating: numerous bodies in motion, bumping into each other and swaying to the rhythm of the deafening music.

Thomas couldn’t concentrate at all.

“Do you consider this fun?” he half yelled next to Jorge and Brenda, who looked like they were about to sprint off to the middle of the dance floor.

“Fun?” Jorge looked at him quizzically. “ _Hermano_ , this is liberating!” he grinned from ear to ear and before Thomas could say anything, he took off in the direction of the bar.

“It really is though,” Brenda clapped him on his forearm and looked at her other friends with a warm smile. Minho looked excited and was fidgeting in one place while Teresa and Newt gave off a vibe of confusion. “Just loosen up and enjoy yourselves. Who knows, maybe you’ll come to like it.”

As she said that, Brenda walked over to Jorge, leaving the other four alone.

“Well, I’m gonna go find some pretty faces,” Minho smirked. “Wanna join me?”

Teresa grimaced at that, “I’ll have to decline the offer. I think I’m just going to stick with Brenda for the time being, since she seems to actually know what she’s doing here.”

Thomas and Newt exchanged glances and both shrugged. Neither of them had really been to similar places and the closest thing they had experienced were festivals.

“So I guess we go dance or something?” Newt asked.

“I guess. That or go get ourselves drunk to ‘loosen up’, as Brenda had said,” Thomas air-quoted.

As he said that Jorge suddenly appeared next to them from the sea of people. “I have just the solution for you!” he exclaimed happily and held up his hands, a few bottles in both of them. “We can go play some games!”

“Like..?” Newt raised an eyebrow.

“I dunno, ‘Never have I ever’?” Jorge shrugged.

Brenda also came back with Teresa in tow, both of them holding more drinks.

“Did you see where Minho went?” Brenda asked while looking around.

“I’ve been trying to lose him for ten years,” Teresa said in a monotone. “Personally, I think this is a great development.”

“Oh come on,” Brenda looked at her with an amused expression, “it’s going to be more fun with more people.”

“I’m going to find him,” Newt offered. “It shouldn’t be too hard knowing him.”

As Newt stepped aside the others found an empty spot in one of the corners, which had a big enough table for all of them and pretty comfortable sofas. Jorge, Brenda and Teresa placed the drinks down while Thomas fidgeted in one place, not entirely sure what he should be doing.

“Sit down and relax, _hermano_ ,” Jorge patted him on the head, eliciting a little yelp from the boy. “It’s not going to be an execution.”

“I know, I know,” Thomas said as he rubbed his head. Finally, he sat down next to Brenda, subconsciously leaving an empty space on his right side.

Newt returned after a few minutes with Minho following him like a lost puppy. Minho was already carrying a glass in his hand and kept nudging Newt with it while the other kept swatting it away. They both sat down, Newt next to Thomas and Minho next to Newt.

“So let’s get this party started, shall we?” Jorge raised his own glass and downed it in one gulp. “That was a warm-up.”

“Who wants to go first?” Brenda asked cheerfully as she poured everyone a glass.

“I will!” Minho grinned and then cleared his throat. “Never have I ever written a sappy rap for someone.”

Most of the people sitting around the table just glanced at each other with expressions that read ‘who let him go first?’ as Minho dramatically took a huge gulp out of his glass. Thomas turned to Newt expecting him to throw some witty remark, but was taken aback as he saw the other boy silently drinking from his cup.

“Seriously?” Thomas asked in amazement.

“It was a phase.”

“A phase of writing sappy raps?”

Newt just sighed and nodded without saying anything else.

“All right, next question is on me,” said Brenda. “Never have I ever been a furry.”

And at that moment Thomas was sure no one would be taking this game seriously. He watched as Brenda’s eyes lit up when she saw Teresa raising her glass to her lips. The girls locked their gazes and immediately grinned from ear to ear.

“Really? You too?” Brenda asked in amazement as she crawled over Jorge, who had been sitting next to her, and seated herself next to the other girl.

“Wow, I thought I was completely alone in this,” Teresa said before scooting over to make Brenda some space. “Even though I’m way past it now.”

“Same, same,” Brenda laughed.

“I think we lost them,” Thomas said to no one in particular, but all of the other guys at the table nodded their heads in agreement.

“All right then…” Minho drew out. “I’m just gonna take Teresa’s turn, since it doesn’t look like she’s capable of talking about anything other than her ‘nyas’.” He stayed silent for a bit after saying that with a blank look on his face.

“Anyway, never have I ever run naked through my neighbourhood.”

Everyone who was still paying attention made an expression that was a mix of horrified, disgusted and greatly surprised. Even Teresa and Brenda shot their heads up.

“Seriously, guys?” Minho looked at them incredulously. “You’ve never lived then.” He chugged down his drink.

“If that means living, then I don’t want to,” Newt said looking scared at Thomas.

“I think I’ll have to agree,” the other boy shuddered.

The game went on for a while, everyone suggesting silly or just plain out idiotic things. Some drank more than others, some only raised their glasses a few times. Thomas was feeling a small buzz and slightly light-headed, but he was pretty sure that he wasn’t still really drunk. He did loosen up a lot, now somehow managing to have migrated next to Minho and laughing stupidly with him while they had their arms draped over each other’s shoulders.

“No, no, dude,” Thomas drew out, interrupting himself with a fit of giggles, “ _you’re_ awesome!”

“I mean, I know I am,” Minho grinned, “but you’re not too bad yourself,” he hugged the other playfully.

“Is this what kids these days call ‘bromance’?” Newt said while trying to keep a straight face but failing miserably. Minho also had one of his arms around his shoulders, dragging him closer to himself.

“I can be whatever you want, baby,” the Asian boy probably tried to wink, but all he did was blink awkwardly.

“Oh god!” Newt spluttered, trying to shove him away while holding one hand over his own mouth, trying to stop the laughter escaping it.

“No, no, I insist,” Minho wiggled his eyebrows and only moved closer to Newt.

Thomas couldn’t even manage to say anything as he was completely engulfed by laughter. He felt so light and it seemed that anything that his friends said or did was completely hilarious.

“Wait,” he tried to catch his breath, “are we still playing the game?”

“What game?” Minho glanced back at him, finally leaving Newt alone.

“You know – the game,” Thomas gestured wildly around before noticing a glass near Jorge and pointing aggressively at it.

“Ooh…” the other boy seemed to get it. “Yeah! We should continue! It kind of slipped my mind.”

Jorge noticed what Thomas had been doing and also joined in, “All right, then how about I take the turn,” he nudged Teresa, who was engrossed in some conversation with Brenda. The girl looked up and seemed to realize within seconds what was being expected from her. She then in turn tapped Brenda on the shoulder and pushed her glass closer.

“So, never have I ever…” Jorge rolled his tongue. “Had a crush on a friend,” he smirked wickedly.

Thomas felt a cold shudder go down his spine at those words. There was only thing flapping around in his head, a short message that conveyed everything that he was feeling and had felt.

_Oops…_

He tried to nonchalantly glance at Newt, who also looked as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured on his head. Thomas forced a laugh as he raised his glass and felt it bump into his lips. He looked around and saw that actually everyone else was drinking with the exception of Minho, who looked extremely proud of himself. Brenda and Teresa both took huge gulps as they laughed and fist-bumped each other. Jorge calmly drank from his own glass with a smug look on his face. And Newt was drinking too.

The blond suddenly raised his eyes and his gaze met Thomas’ who had forgotten that he had been staring. They both looked at each other for a moment before laughing awkwardly and turning away.

 The game didn’t last too long after that though and it was finally decided with a majority vote to go explore the club. Thomas wandered around, bumping into random people from time to time. He wasn’t sure where he was heading or what he even wanted to do.

_Dance, maybe?_ His mind provided.

He bumped into another person and started to apologize again but then noticed who it was. Newt was standing in front of him with a slightly surprised look on his face.

“You’re here too?” he asked.

“We came here together,” Thomas immediately replied without thinking too much.

“No, I meant the dance-floor,” the other boy shook his head while smiling.

“Oh…” Thomas trailed off. “I actually hadn’t noticed I had gotten here.”

“So…” Now it was the blond’s time to trail off. “Are you planning on staying here or traveling to another part of the club?”

“You make it sound like I’m some migrating bird,” Thomas crossed his arms while playfully smiling at his friend. He then looked around a bit: everyone next to him was swaying their bodies to the rhythm, some of the closer people throwing glances at him for standing still in one place. “I guess I might as well dance if I’m already here,” he shrugged before suddenly throwing up his arms and starting to move. Newt laughed slightly at him and soon joined in, though not as spastically as his friend.

After a few minutes though it seemed that the people around them kept moving closer and closer, forcing the two to almost dance body to body. The music also got louder, so now Thomas had to raise his voice considerably if he wanted to talk to Newt.

“I don’t think it’s very comfortable dancing like this!”

“I agree!” Newt shouted back at him, slowing down his movements.

“What about this then?” Thomas said and moved on impulse without really thinking what he was doing. He put his arms on the other’s waist, moving them slightly down towards his hips. Newt seemed to freeze for a second before he relaxed and put his arms on Thomas’ shoulders.

“We really need to stop meeting like this,” he laughed warmly.

“Well, last time was a bit different – we were half naked,” Thomas joked, feeling completely comfortable in this situation.

“Maybe we should continue with the tradition,” Newt buoyantly raised one of his eyebrows.

“I think they might throw you out of the club if you start stripping randomly in the middle of the dance-floor.”

“Buzzkill,” the other boy pouted before shifting back into a smile.

As they continued to dance after a while Thomas noticed Teresa from the corner of his eye. The girl looked slightly uncomfortable, so he tried to see the reason why. Some guy was standing next to her a bit too close for comfort, talking to her and smugly grinning. Thomas tapped Newt before pointing towards Teresa and the stranger. The blond’s face turned stern and he looked back at Thomas. Both of them nodded and started pushing their way through the sea of people.

Teresa shot something back at the guy, visibly annoyed but then he reached down behind her and her expression turned to momentary shock. Thomas was just about to sock the dude in the face but was beat to the job by Brenda, who appeared out of nowhere. She punched him right in the jaw, as she was shorter than him, and they guy staggered before falling down on his back.

“Don’t you dare do something like that to someone who clearly doesn’t want to!” the girl growled. It looked like the stranger was about to say something as he stood up with anger marring his face but just at that moment Minho and Jorge stepped up right next to him. Thomas and Newt also reached the scene and now every single person from their group was starring aggressively at him.

“Do you really want to start something, _hermano_?” Jorge asked calmly in a low voice.

The guy spat at his feet but before Minho could jump him a bulky security guard tapped the boy on the shoulder. He raised one eyebrow and waited for someone to start talking.

“He started it!” Brenda said, her eyes flicking dangerously.

“And I’m going to end it,” said the security guard.

It probably shouldn’t have been a surprise that after a few minutes the group found themselves standing outside the club in the evening light.

“Worth it,” Brenda muttered as everyone else readily agreed. She then looked around and scoffed. “Well, I’m not letting this ruin my night. I say we go find some other place to have fun.”

“I heard from a few people that there’s another club pretty close by,” Jorge said.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Minho asked looking at him. “Show us the way.”

After a few minutes they were inside yet another club, though Thomas wondered if he could call it exactly that. This place was a lot darker than the previous one and a lot more ‘smokey’, he guessed he could say, but the boy couldn’t deny that there were plenty of people here too. After looking around he noticed that Jorge and Minho had wandered off somewhere, but everyone else was still next to him.

Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Thomas turned to see if it was someone he knew but in front of him was standing a slightly older woman with clothing that didn’t leave too much for the imagination. He gulped, but tried to keep his cool.

“Uh, can I help you?”

“Oh, darling,” the woman smiled sweetly, “I just couldn’t help but notice when you and your little friends came in.” She then glanced to the other three, who were looking at her questioningly. “You seem exactly the kind of people who would want to have some fun. What do you say?” she almost purred, now draping one arm around Thomas’ shoulder.

“What kind of ‘fun’?” Teresa interjected before Thomas could muster an answer.

The woman quickly let go of Thomas and smiled brightly, now fixing her attention on Teresa. “Don’t worry, dear - all of you can join in. Why don’t you let me show you?”

The four of them exchanged worried looks.

“Could you let us talk this over first?” Newt asked, taking initiative as no one else said anything.

“Sure, sweetie,” the woman winked at him. “Just don’t take too long or someone else will catch my attention.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll only take a minute,” Newt flashed her a smile before beckoning the other three closer.

“I don’t trust her,” Teresa said in a hushed voice. “She could be trying to drug us.”

“Maybe she’s just actually being nice and will give us a discount on the drinks or something?” Thomas said unsure, not really believing his own words.

“I don’t know, this seems just a bit too shady to me,” Newt murmured seemingly deep in thought.

“I guess that’s what I should have expected from you guys,” Brenda sighed shaking her head, “but since it’s your first time I’ll let it slide. From what I can gather, my guess is that she wants us to play some games.”

“Games?” Teresa looked at her incredulously.

“Yeah, though probably not something completely legal,” Brenda continued. “These places usually have something like that going on in one or two of the back rooms and we just got a VIP invitation,” she smirked.

“So you’re telling us to agree?” Newt asked.

“Why not?” The girl shrugged. “It might actually be interesting and a new experience for you greenies.”

Newt shook his head before smiling. “You live, you learn.” He then looked back at the woman, who was leaning on one of the walls and inspecting her nails. “We’ll go, but just so you know – we have friends here, so they’ll notice if we go missing for too long,” he said sternly.

The woman flashed him a smile before turning around and beckoning the group to follow her. Everyone walked in varying enthusiasm and speed but still, they all stepped inside one of the rooms that were to the side of the bar.

There was a huge round table in the middle of the room and Thomas immediately got reminded of those older gangster movies. It looked ridiculously cliché, but he didn’t comment on it since there already were some people in the room who didn’t look like they would take a joke well. He counted four of them, excluding the woman who had led them inside. There were three men, all of whom had a perpetual frown plastered on their faces and one woman, who gave off the impression that she somehow belonged in this place and yet didn’t at all at the same time, leaving Thomas with a weird feeling.

“Hi there!” Brenda cut the silence startling Thomas a little.

“Let’s just get to business,” one of the men grunted.

“Oh, she was just being nice,” the older woman next to him waved her hand.

Thomas gulped when he noticed one of the men, who was bald, intently watching him. The boy stepped a little closer to Newt, though in his head he was already thinking of an escape plan and checking where he could land some hits the easiest.

Everyone sat down around the table: four against four. The cards were dealt by the woman who had let them in and Thomas tried to furiously remember the rules of poker.

“You do know what’s at stake?” the third man asked looking everyone over.

“Of course,” the one who had been watching Thomas answered.

“What exactly is?” Teresa asked trying to keep her voice steady.

“Let’s just say you shouldn’t get too attached to your body.”

“Seriously?” Newt said in a hushed voice, sounding more frustrated than scared.

The game started and Thomas remembered why he didn’t really play it.

He sucked at it.

The boy blamed the fact that he couldn’t keep a straight face for longer periods of time. Damn him and his emotions. It looked like Teresa was in a similar bind, though her poker face was a lot better, but maybe luck just wasn’t with her that day.

On the other hand, Newt and Brenda were on fire. Both of them had plenty of tokens at their sides even though they had different playing strategies. Newt kept his face completely expressionless and would just silently collect his winnings, but Brenda seemed to love bluffing and interacting with her opponents.

Thomas was just glad that they appeared to be winning as the other group was getting more and more frustrated.

In the end, to the surprise of most – they won.

“Good game, guys, good game,” Brenda flashed everyone a smile. “We should do this another time too.”

“You wish,” the bald man snarled.

“Oh, do I?” Brenda gave him a dangerous look before turning around to her friends. “Mind stepping outside? I’ll join you in a minute.”

“What about our winnings?” Newt asked.

“I’ll take care of it,” she said as she lightly pushed them through the door.

The three of them stood outside the room in silence. Thomas couldn’t really think of anything to say, so he just watched the sea of people, trying to catch a glimpse of Minho or Jorge.

Eventually, Brenda walked out of the room with a dark vessel in her hands.

“What’s that?” Thomas cautiously looked at the black thing.

“Nothing illegal,” Brenda shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, mostly. Don’t worry about it.”

“As long as the police doesn’t come after us, I’m fine with that,” Newt said. “So anyway, want to go find the other two adventurers?”

Just as he said that they noticed some kind of commotion near the DJ. A group of people appeared to be in a heated argument with plenty of hand gestures and shouting, at least Thomas guessed so, since he couldn’t hear anything over the deafening music.

“Wow, seems like quite the party, eh?” a voice suddenly said right into Thomas’ ear, making him jump.

“Minho?!” the boy asked angrily. “Don’t do stuff like that!”

“Don’t hate the player – hate the game.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I dunno,” Minho shrugged and looked back at the DJ. “Hey, isn’t that Jorge?” He squinted his eyes.

“I think so,” Newt joined in. “Maybe we should go check it out?”

“I swear, if he’s doing it again…” Brenda grumbled.

The five of them squeezed through the tightly packed dance-floor and finally managed to reach the place of the argument.

Indeed, it was Jorge.

He was surrounded by three other guys, though he didn’t seem to care as he angrily gestured around and kept shouting something in… Spanish? Thomas wasn’t entirely sure.

Newt nudged Thomas in the arm and pointed at the DJ, who looked quite annoyed. Soon, a bouncer walked close to him and nodded a few times before averting his attention to the shouting people.

“Uh, Jorge?” Thomas tried to catch the attention of his friend, but in vain.

“I think we should just leave early,” Teresa sighed, “and I have a hunch Jorge will join us soon.”

The group stepped out of the club into the chilling evening air and soon, just as Teresa had said, Jorge walked out through the door fuming.

“Ugh, I can’t fucking believe it,” he mumbled under his nose.

“There, there. I’m sure you were completely right and the other guys were idiots who don’t know any better.” Brenda patted him on the back. “What do you say we find some other place to crash and forget about everything?”

“Fine,” Jorge said a lot calmer now.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take too long to find another club, this time the place looking a lot more colourful than the last one. A neon sign flashed on and off above the large ornamented doors and everyone unanimously agreed that they should check this place out.

The drinks were just as colourful.

After a while Thomas lost count of how many shots he had taken, the only thought in his mind being that he had never realized how many colours were in a rainbow as he took one bright glass after another.

“This is by far the best place we went to!” he exclaimed to whoever seemed to be next to him.

“I guess,” Newt laughed a little at the sudden outburst.

“Ah, we should have brought Minho here too,” Thomas quickly deflated. “He would have loved it.”

“Minho?” Newt looked at him questioningly. “Didn’t he come here with us?”

“He did? I didn’t notice.” The other boy started looking around frantically. “Hey, Brenda, Teresa, Jorge!” he waved enthusiastically at his other friends, shouting from the top of his lungs, even though they were standing only a couple of meters away from him and Newt.

“Did you see Minho?” he asked as the others joined them. “I think he’s missing.”

“Seriously?” Minho asked, turning around from the bar.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen him at all after we got here.”

“Damn, maybe he got in some trouble?” Minho put down his bottle, now looking concerned.

“I think I saw him –hic- by the speakers,” Brenda said, interrupting herself with a hiccup and gently swaying from one side to another.

“Oh yeah, there were some pretty girls there, I would definitely go there,” the Asian boy agreed full-heartedly, nodding vigorously.

“Though I think I just recently saw him in the middle of the dance-floor,” Jorge said before they could start heading towards the speakers.

“I mean, the song is pretty good at the moment. I would definitely jam out to it.” Minho put a hand to his chin, seemingly deep in thought.

“He might be by the bar too,” Teresa joined in. “We did go to it as soon as we came here.”

“I think we should all split up,” Newt said. “That way we’ll find him quicker.”

“Okay, Teresa and Newt – you go to the speakers; Brenda and Jorge – try to look for him on the dance-floor, and me and Minho will look around the bar and the tables,” Thomas instructed everyone before putting on a serious expression and turning around to head for the bar, which was a few steps from him.

“You think we’ll find me?” Minho asked, picking up his bottle again and taking a swig from it. “I hope I’m not in some dark alley doing some shady business.”

“Don’t worry, Minho,” Thomas flashed him a reassuring smile, “we’ll find Minho.”

The two of them walked around the tables a bit, though most of them were occupied by people who were not Minho. Eventually they reached an empty one. Minho put down his bottle on it and sat down on the sofa.

“Argh, where am I?” he groaned.

“Hey, maybe the others found him?” Thomas also sat down.

“Maybe… wait-“ Minho’s eyes suddenly widened as he looked at the bottle on the table. “I think I was drinking this. No, I’m pretty sure I was!”

“Really?” Thomas jumped up. “So maybe he’s near?”

“He could have sat down here to drink,” Minho looked at him excitedly.

“Yeah, YEAH! That’s a good idea! Thanks, Minho!” Thomas exclaimed before something clicked in his head as he watched his giddy friend sitting on the sofa in front of him. “Oh my god! We found you!” He threw up his arms in the air and felt the hit something that made a distinct breaking noise as it shattered. The shards fell on the table and Thomas slowly looked up to see a broken lamp that had been hanging above his and Minho’s heads.

“Uhh, I think we should go…” he whispered, taking a few steps back.

“Agreed,” Minho nodded as he stood up from his seat. “And I think we should find the others.”

The two quickly scrambled out from the table area as some people had begun turning their heads to see what had happened. Thomas soon saw Brenda and Jorge and without saying anything he just grabbed both of their arms and continued heading for the speakers.

“Oh, you found Minho?” Jorge asked, not showing any care that he was being dragged.

“Yeah, but we need to leave now,” Thomas answered, now searching with his eyes for Newt and Teresa – the two were standing near one speaker and talking with each other.

As soon as they got to them Minho did the same thing that Thomas had done to Brenda and Jorge and the group hurriedly pushed through the people towards the exit.

“Why are we leaving?” Teresa asked looking back behind her. “This place was the best from all the ones we visited tonight.”

“Because we might have done something that could compromise us,” Thomas said as he pushed Brenda through the door, the girl waving back to someone, or perhaps just the place itself.

“Technically it was your fault,” Minho interjected.

“That doesn’t matter now,” Thomas looked at him a bit irritated. “Let’s just go somewhere else. The night is young or whatever.”

“I don’t think we should pry,” Newt said simply and Thomas was thankful for that since the others actually seemed to listen.

“So where to now?” Brenda looked around the emptying street as they left the colourful building.

“I think I see something resembling a club over there,” Minho pointed and started walking without waiting for anyone.

“Might as well,” Teresa sighed and followed him, the others in tow.

* * *

 

“Well, you weren’t wrong,” Thomas said, feeling himself being squeezed from every side by people, “this is indeed a club.”

“Yeah, but you may have overlooked one minor detail,” Newt joined in, awkwardly holding his arms in front of him.

“Which is?” Minho asked, almost shoving his elbow in Thomas’ stomach.

“It’s a gay one,” Teresa answered for him.

“Hey, I take what I can get,” Minho shrugged, this time actually hitting Thomas in the nose with his shoulder.

“It’s actually pretty nice,” Brenda joined in from somewhere Thomas couldn’t see, “just a bit too crowded maybe.”

“I’m going to try and get a drink,” Minho said with a determined expression. “Wish me luck.” That said he quickly turned and started shoving his way towards the bar. Thomas decided he might as well follow his friend as that area looked less crowded than where they were all standing at the moment.

When he got to the bar he saw that everyone else had also followed them, each taking a seat at the bar and looking somewhat exhausted. He sat down next to Newt and ordered a glass of water – suddenly he didn’t feel like drinking anymore.

“That actually sounds like a good idea,” Newt smiled wearily at him and also ordered the same. “I think it’s time for all of us to cool down after whatever the hell had happened at the last place, or maybe places would be more accurate.”

“Perhaps there was something in the air?” Thomas suggested with a small laugh.

“Or something in all of that colouring that they put in the drinks.”

“Could be, though it doesn’t seem to have discouraged Minho,” Thomas noted as he looked at his friend surrounding himself in glasses.

“Maybe it’s like water to him,” Newt stated more than asked and also kept his gaze on the Asian boy as he kept pouring everything down his throat. “Is he even tasting anything?”

Suddenly, Minho shot up from his seat, said something that sounded like ‘That’s my song!’ and started climbing up on the bar stool. Everyone watched him in shock and before anyone could drag him down from there he started attempting to break-dance on the table.

Thomas watched in silent awe as his friend spun and only took a few steps back from his seat as his legs swung by his face. He had to admit – for a drunk guy he was doing pretty good.

“Minho, what the hell?” Teresa asked, though without much anger in her voice.

And then as suddenly as it had happened Thomas was taken out of his stupor by the sound of shattering glasses. Apparently Minho hadn’t bothered to put them away before he started showing off. By the time he slowly turned his head to look somewhere else the whole club was looking in their direction and the boy felt himself shrink a bit.

* * *

 

Their group had been hanging around on a random bridge for a while in silence before Newt spoke up, “You know, I get the feeling that the universe doesn’t really want us going clubbing.”

Teresa breathed out a puff of the cold night air and slumped more on the railings. “I think you’re right.”

“Maybe next time we should just stick to a calm café or a mall?” Jorge asked while looking distantly into the water flowing below them.

“Agreed,” everyone mumbled in tired voices.

 

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

As the last month of summer rolled in everyone knew that their vacation was coming to an end. At the very beginning of their trip they had decided to come home with three weeks left until the start of the new school year, so that everyone could get ready for it. Thomas was having a bit of confused feelings towards everything, because even though he was excited to start his studies at a new place and meet new people, he couldn’t deny that this summer was probably the best he had ever had. He felt sad knowing that it would soon come to an end and that he’d inevitably have to part with his friends. Well, not entirely. Of course he’d still meet up with them, but it’d be weird not seeing them every day as he had gotten so used to.

For their last week together on their trip, Teresa had offered for everyone to stay over at her family’s beach house, since it wasn’t too far away from their home town and it felt right to spend the remainder of their time near the sea. Thomas had been there a few times in the past and knew that it was the perfect place to relax before coming back to the real world.

When they got there everything was the same as he had remembered: a lone two story beach house on the edge of a slope that led down towards the beach. There weren’t any other houses close by, though a small town was situated not too far away, so if they were in need of something it wouldn’t be too far away of a drive. Thomas really liked the place as there were tons of small secrets you could find like caves and an interesting array of local fauna and flora in the nearby forest, which he loved to explore every time he came here with Teresa.

Incidentally, their group of friends had also come here last summer, so everyone except for Newt was already acquainted with the place, leaving the blond boy the only one who was looking at everything with amazement.

“And everything here belongs to you?” he asked Teresa after a small whistle as they entered the house to unpack their bags.

“Well, more so to my parents, but I can practically do anything I want here,” the girl shrugged.

“Dibs on the single bedroom!” Minho shouted as soon as he stepped over the threshold.

“Of course,” Brenda laughed as she climbed the stairs to the second floor. “I’ll take the usual one, okay, Teresa?”

“Sure,” the other girl waved her off. “Just please don’t dump everything on the bed, since we’ll actually need it to sleep on.”

Thomas quickly turned to Newt to explain the situation, “As you can see, we’ve already been here a few times, so we all have a sort of arrangement. There are four bedrooms, so there are always people who fight to get to be alone in theirs.”

“I’m taking the other single one,” Jorge said nonchalantly passing them. Thomas was sure he heard the other murmuring something along the lines of ‘Finally, some peace and quiet’ as he dragged his bag upstairs.

“I don’t mind staying with Brenda,” Teresa joined in to Thomas’ explanation, “but it seems that you two got the short end of the stick as there’s only one bedroom left.”

“Guess we’ll just have to share,” Thomas laughed a bit, feigning disappointment, even though he had known about the single bedrooms and hadn’t tried to beat anyone to them.

“Let’s end as we started,” Newt said without any annoyance and looked at Thomas with a reassuring smile.

“O-okay,” the brunet boy smiled himself and started heading upstairs to show Newt their room.

* * *

 

Since they had arrived early in the day there was still a lot of time left to go to the beach. The day was pretty hot, so there was practically no delay as the group headed for the beach after changing their clothes. Of course, Thomas and Minho refused to take the stairs like normal people and just had to slide their way down the slope. Thomas didn’t regret stumbling over his feet at the last moment and getting a face-full of sand, since the exact same thing happened to Minho.

As the two laughed at each other the rest of the group reached the beach without any incident. Jorge, Newt and Brenda were each carrying a beach chair while Teresa brought a parasol. The four of them watched their two other friends as they sat on the sand and kept trying to pour more sand in the other’s hair.

“Are we sure neither of them will drown nor break something during this week?” Teresa asked.

“We can only hope,” Jorge answered without any real concern.

When Thomas and Minho finally joined the others Teresa and Jorge were playing badminton while Brenda and Newt were on the beach chairs, both reading. Thomas flopped down on a towel that was spread beneath the parasol and closed his eyes. The soft ocean breeze relaxed him as he listened to the sounds of his friends playing. Everything seemed somewhat muffled and the boy closed his eyes.

Thomas wasn’t sure how much time passed with him just lying there, but after some time when he cracked one eye open he saw that Brenda had left and he was alone with Newt, still on the chair reading. He steadied himself on his arms as he got up and dusted some residual sand that was still on him. He looked at Newt with a bit of hesitance, but finally managed to speak up, “Hey, do you want to come with me?”

The blond boy looked at him before closing his book and standing up himself. “Sure,” he said, “where do you want to go?”

“There’s a place I want to show to you, but we need to bring a phone or a flashlight and a plastic bag,” Thomas explained as he started rummaging through one of the bags they had brought.

“I can take my phone, it’s almost fully charged,” Newt offered.

“Okay,” Thomas said as he pulled out a plastic bag and balled it into his fist, “then we’re set.”

As they started walking there was silence between them, so Thomas decided to break it, “It’s a bit far away, but we have the phone just in case.”

“So what is it exactly?” Newt glanced at him with a questioning look.

“It’s a cave I found a few years ago. It’s somewhat hard to get into, but it’s really nice…” the boy trailed off for a moment before continuing again, “I haven’t shown it to anyone else.”

He wasn’t sure why he wanted to show it to Newt only. The first time he found it he had decided that it would be his secret place, but now he felt as if Newt needed to know about it too. He wasn’t even sure if the other would like it, but he figured he’d take the chance.

“Oh, so it’s going to be our secret?” Newt smiled knowingly.

“You could say. It’s nothing too impressive though.”

When Thomas finally recognized the surroundings a small smile came to him. A large rock formation was blocking the rest of the beach all the way from the water to the tall sand dunes. The boy got a somewhat nostalgic feeling as if coming home, just not as strong. He tended to go to this place alone when he needed to just get away from other people for some time, but since he had only come here with Teresa and sometimes his other friends, he’d always need to come up with some excuse why he had been gone.

But this time it didn’t feel like running away.

“We’re here,” Thomas announced.

Newt looked at the huge obstacle in front of them for a few moments before turning back at Thomas looking confused. “How are we supposed to get through this?”

“We’re not,” the other boy answered simply. “We’re supposed to get _inside_ it.”

“Inside? Is this the cave?”

“Yeah, at first I had also thought it was just a bunch of rocks, but actually there’s an entrance inside of it,” Thomas started to explain. “We’ll need to go through the water though.”

“So that’s why you needed the plastic bag,” Newt said with a snap of his fingers.

“Yup,” Thomas smiled at him. “Now come on, the water’s pretty low at the moment, so it’ll be easy to get in.”

As he said that, Thomas started walking towards the sea and beckoned Newt to follow him. The blond boy hesitated a bit but got in the water too. “Are we going to have to swim a lot?”

“Not really, only a little.” Thomas then stopped in his tracks and quickly turned back to his friend. “We don’t need to go if you don’t want to. I completely forgot to tell you how we’ll be getting inside here.”

“Nah, don’t worry,” Newt shook his head. “It’s fine if it’s only a little of swimming.”

“Okay then…” Thomas turned back towards the cave again, still feeling a bit stupid for not asking if it would be fine with Newt. During the time they had been traveling he had noticed that the blond had been favouring one of his legs over the other in some of the more physical activities. He figured he might have hurt it sometime during their nine years apart, since he was sure Newt had always been in great health when they were kids, but he never asked. Honestly, he just wanted Newt to tell him himself and if he didn’t he could just pretend to be oblivious.

“Just follow my lead,” Thomas said as the water was nearing his shoulders. “It’s not a long swim.”

“Okay,” he heard Newt answer before taking a gulp of air and submerging his head.

Immediately he saw the opening to the cave a bit further away. He swam towards the clearing of the rocks while holding the plastic bag with Newt’s phone inside of it. He quickly got through it so that Newt wouldn’t have to stay in the water for too long and sat up on the edge of the rocky bank. Soon he saw a mop of blond hair emerge through the lagoon’s water.

Thomas patiently waited for Newt to get his wet bangs out of his eyes so that he could show his friend around the cave. He had turned on the phone for a source of light and now everything was illuminated in a soft blue glow.

“Wow, this is actually pretty nice,” Newt exhaled as he finally got out of the water and looked around.

“Too bad there’s no natural light, but I think a phone is enough,” Thomas said.

“So you come here frequently?” the blond asked as he walked up to the cave walls to inspect them.

“Not too frequently, only sometimes.” Thomas put the phone down on the ground so that it could illumine most of the cave. It wasn’t really big, but it didn’t feel too claustrophobic either. The walls went up pretty high and there was plenty of space to walk around, lie down or sit by the small lagoon. He continued doing just that, following his friend with his eyes.

When Newt noticed that Thomas was still sitting by the small lagoon he walked back to him and sat down, submerging his feet in the water. The two of them looked at each other before simultaneously breaking into smiles.

“It seems so long since it was just the two of us,” Newt said, keeping his voice lower than usual as not to disturb the peacefulness of the cave.

“You’re right, huh?” Thomas answered, trying to remember the last time they were alone. There were plenty of short instances during their trip, but there was usually one or more of their friends always near.

“It kind of reminds me of when we were kids,” Newt said, sounding a bit nostalgic. He probably was. “Speaking about that – how did you fare after I left? I can see that you made some good friends.”

Thomas drew his gaze away from Newt’s face and fixed it on the slightly rippling water. “I won’t lie – I felt lonely. You were the person with whom I had spent most of my days with and I didn’t know what to do with myself after you were gone. At first I moped around, after that I tried to pretend that everything was fine. I didn’t really want to make new friends at school, but I did talk to some other kids from time to time.” He then smiled from a far-off memory. “Teresa was the first one who decided to distract me. She just sat down next to me one day and said that she didn’t have her book. I was really suspicious, since she never forgot anything.”

“Yeah, I remember that part. She was one of the best students in our class, right?” Newt asked.

“Yup, but I didn’t say anything and just lent her mine. After that she just continued to sit down next to me every day and we started talking more and more. Then one day Minho invited me to play on his basketball team. We did hang out with him sometimes, so he wasn’t a complete stranger and I agreed.”

“I’m glad they managed to get closer to you. I mean, they’re really amazing people, even if a bit annoying sometimes,” Newt laughed.

“Ah, that just means they care. The more annoying the better,” Thomas smiled back at him. “What about you, though? I at least had the same class and neighbourhood, for you it was a completely new place.”

“It was and I didn’t feel very comfortable at first. I did find a friend fairly quickly – his name’s Alby and I’m still friends with him. He helped me get used to the new place and kind of integrated me into the new class at school. I’m really indebted to him for that,” Newt said with a fondness in his voice. “I still missed you, though.”

“At least we’re here now.”

“True, I’m happy I decided to check in on your house. Wasn’t entirely sure I’d find you there.”

“I’m happy too,” Thomas let out a breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding in. “It’s also nice to hear you had a good time.” He almost admitted out loud that he had wondered about his friend almost constantly but managed to restrain himself. That might have just been too much information.

Newt’s face stiffened at those words. His mouth straightened into a thin line and the blond slowly looked away. “That’s not… entirely true.”

Thomas felt his worry rise up again. He had imagined many unnerving scenarios as a kid and he suddenly remembered all of them. He spoke silently, “What happened?”

“I got weak, everything was too much for me and I wanted out,” Newt drew up his legs to his chest and hugged them. “If it wasn’t for Alby I might not even be here with you right now.”

Thomas’ blood ran cold as one of his worst scenarios was being told to him. He couldn’t look away from Newt but couldn’t think of anything to say either.

“My leg is a constant reminder of what I did and I still try to keep clear of higher places. I regret what I tried to do, but I think it changed my outlook on everything quite a bit,” Newt continued, his expression shifting into something calmer.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Thomas whispered.

“That’s not your fault, Tommy,” the blond waved his hand.

“You should really give me Alby’s number,” Thomas smiled slightly. “I have to call him and thank him.”

“You’ll probably get the chance to meet him – he’s going to study at the same place as me.” Newt stretched out his legs again and turned his body more towards the other boy. “Maybe we can all hang out sometimes.”

“Right…” Thomas sighed and shook his head. When he saw Newt looking at him questioningly he only smiled. “It’s nothing. I just can’t believe we both got a second chance to meet again and continue from where we left off.”

“I can’t believe it either,” Newt said softly and Thomas felt himself inch closer to him. Newt also leaned in closer and Thomas saw the faint blue glow of the phone reflecting in his eyes. There was barely any space left between their faces.

“Think fast,” Newt whispered before closing the distance between their lips.

Thomas had kissed before and this was by far his first time, but for all sakes and instances this might as well had been. He felt nervous and relaxed at the same time and the warmth of Newt’s lips were as if a breath of fresh air to him. He hadn’t realized how much he had wanted this to happen, but right now he couldn’t think of anything else besides the way Newt’s eyes looked as they both slowly pulled back and just breathed a bit unevenly, not being able to look anywhere else besides right at each other.

Thomas felt laughter bubble up inside him and he smiled wholeheartedly at Newt. “Thanks for the advice.”

* * *

 

Thomas wasn’t sure how much time passed with the two of them alone in the cave, but when both of them were startled by the phone ringing with a concerned Teresa on the other side they knew it was about time to go back outside. They swam together the same way they had come in and walked by the beach until finally reaching their friends.

Teresa fussed a bit about them disappearing for so long without saying anything to anyone, but Thomas could see that she wasn’t angry. In fact, he was sure he saw her smiling as he put his arm around Newt’s shoulders when they were walking back to the beach house. He winked at her and mouthed ‘I’ll tell you later’ as Minho ranted loudly about them having fun without inviting him.

 All of them spent the evening in the living-room after eating dinner prepared by Brenda and Jorge. Teresa had brought out some board-games and the atmosphere was comfortably warm as everyone laughed and enjoyed themselves, occasionally acting as little kids again. Thomas felt content as he leaned towards Newt, both of them lounging against the sofa while sitting on the ground.

During the night they slept close to each other as they had been used to, though this time Newt draped his arms over Thomas, pulling them even closer. Thomas hoped that this time of theirs together would never end.

Eventually, though, the week came to a close.

Everyone packed their things and carried them over to the car, settling in themselves after that was done. Minho was messing with the radio and kept asking Teresa if they could stay for some time more. Occasionally he’d look back behind him where Thomas and Newt were sitting and give them an apologetic look. Thomas figured he was doing that for their sake, since the moment it had hit the Asian boy that the two of them were acting a bit closer than usual he had taken up the role of a protector of some sorts. Of course, that didn’t stop him from making fun out of them, but that was nothing unusual coming from him. At the moment it seemed that he was convinced that they would separate again after the trip had ended and would never see each other. Thomas had tried telling him that Newt was going to study at the same city as them and even at the same university, but Minho was dead set on his own truth. Ultimately, they just let him roll with it.

When they finally began driving back to their hometown Thomas didn’t feel at loss anymore. He knew he had spent an amazing summer with his friends and there was still so much more ahead of them. University was going to be a rollercoaster, but he knew he could manage it.

The brunet boy looked back at Newt, who had snoozed off. He smiled to himself and intertwined their fingers as he also rested his head against the backseats and closed his eyes.


End file.
